Cancer is a dreaded disease but it can be challenged and fought back with courage and a positive mindset, eminent Ollywood actor Satyaki Mishra said on Saturday.

“My earnest request to all is to stay away from tobacco products as they are known to cause cancer,” Mishra who is presently recovering from oral cancer said while speaking at an event at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here organised on the eve of World Cancer Day.

The program, organised every year by the hospital’s department of Oncosciences, was attended by nearly 600 people who had successfully fought the disease and those undergoing treatment in the hospital.

Ollywood actors Siddhant Mohapatra and Tattwa Prakash Satapathy, popularly known as Papu Pom Pom who also attended the event, emphasized that spread of awareness was the key to successfully battling the disease.

“I was a regular user of tobacco products but never thought that I will be afflicted with cancer. I suffered because of my own folly as I could not kick the habit,” Mishra said adding it was difficult to refrain once a person became an addict.

A popular actor, Mishra said when in hospital, he was witness to scores of cancer patients succumbing to the disease. “It should not happen and the addicts can get out of the habit if they are serious and have the resolve to do it,” he said.

Ms. Suchismita Mishra, the actor’s wife, said battling such a disease can be extremely hard for a family. “It leaves you physically, mentally and financially drained,” she said urging people not to neglect any medical condition suggesting cancer and seek treatment at the earliest.

Mohapatra said lifestyle held the key to one’s health and men suffer from oral, lungs and colon cancer because of their habits. “Hospitals treat the disease but between the diagnosis and treatment, it was for doctors and medical personnel to reach out to the patients with counseling which was of great importance,” he said.

Dr. Sunil Agrawal, Head of the department of Surgical Oncology at IMS and SUM Hospital, said the event’s message to the world was not to be afraid of the disease. Doctors and medical treatment can take care of any situation, he said while describing IMS and SUM Hospital as one of the best centres in the country for cancer treatment.

Prof. Pusparaj Samantasinhar, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, said that proper investigation and treatment could defeat cancer. Prof. (Dr.) Neeta Mohanty, Dean of Institute of Dental Sciences, SOA’s faculty of dental sciences, and Dr. Soumya Surath Panda, head of Medical Oncology, also spoke.

 Dr. Saroj Prasad Panda, head of Pediatric Oncology, said around 50,000 children were detected with cancer across the country every year while IMS and SUM Hospital had 900 children with cancer within the last six years. “There are around 250 children under treatment in the hospital at present, most of whom were suffering from blood cancer,” he said adding children were known to fight the disease well.