Early detection of blood cancer is the key to fight the disease as treatment in the form of stem cell transplant has significantly improved the survival rate, an expert said at a program organised at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here on Wednesday.

India ranks third in the world in terms of reported cases of blood cancer after the United States and China with around 1 lakh people getting diagnosed with a form of the disease like leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma every year, Prof. (Dr.) Priyanka Samal, Head of the department of Hematology, Hemato Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant at the hospital, said.

The program was organised ahead of the World Blood Cancer Day observed globally on May 28.

Prof. (Dr.) Samal said the various types of blood cancer had divergent subtypes, symptoms and causes requiring different treatment with Leukemia being India’s most common type of blood cancer accounting for over half of all cases.

The IMS and SUM Hospital, she said, was equipped with state-of-the-art technology for the diagnosis and management of all types of blood cancer, she said adding it offered a wide range of diagnostic services including advanced imaging and laboratory tests to accurately identify the stage of the disease.

“The treatment options available in the hospital were tailored to the individual patient’s need which included chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy and stem cell transplant,” she said.

She said that the hospital had been conducting bone marrow transplantation since 2019 and 50 patients had undergone autologous and allogeneic transplantation.

Prof. (Dr.) Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, eminent neurosurgeon and SOA University’s Principal Advisor (Health Sciences), Prof. (Dr.) Lalit Kumar Meher, senior professor in the medicine department and Prof. (Dr.) Rachita Sarangi, Additional Dean (Examination Cell) also addressed the program attended by many blood cancer patients.

Prof. (Dr.) Mahapatra said around 15 lakh people worldwide were diagnosed with the disease every year. In India, a blood cancer patient was diagnosed every five minutes, he said.

A message sent by Prof. (Dr.) Sanghamitra Mishra, Dean of IMS and SUM Hospital, for the blood cancer patients who had undergone treatment in the hospital was read on the occasion. Dr. Pritish Patra, Associate Professor in the department of Hematology, Hemato Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, proposed the vote of thanks.