Transforming Lives with Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy cost in India

1. The complete chemotherapy cost in India starts from USD 600 and can go upto USD 8000.US
2. The success rate of chemotherapy depends upon the type of cancer and its stage. For early detected cancers, there is an 80 percent success rate of chemotherapy.
3. The top doctors for chemotherapy treatment include Dr Harith Chaturvedi, Dr Hari Goyal and Dr Ashok Vaid. Top hospitals for chemotherapy are Max Saket Hospital, Artemis Hospital, and Medanta Hospital.
4. Depending on the potency of chemotherapy, patients can be treated on an out-patient basis or admitted into the hospital for 1-2 weeks. Stay in India can be for 3-6 months depending upon the number of chemotherapy cycles .

About Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a form of aggressive drug treatment that is known for killing cancer cells. Unfortunately, along with the cancer cells, healthy cells are also killed. Based on the type of cancer and the stage the cancer is in, chemotherapy can be used independently or in combination with other treatments such as radiation therapy and surgery.

Why Chemotherapy Is Used

Chemotherapy kills rapidly multiplying cells, primarily targeting cancer cells, either throughout the body or in specific sites. Doctors advise chemotherapy for various reasons:

1. Curing Cancer: In the early stages of certain cancers, doctors recommend chemotherapy independently to try and kill all the present cancer cells.
2. Reducing Tumors: Chemotherapy targets tumors and shrink them down so that doctors can operate or use radiation on the tumors.
3. Killing remaining cancer cells: At times, after surgery and radiation, chemotherapy is used to kill any remaining cancer cells in the body.
4. Reducing Symptoms: In cases where surgery or radiation is not possible, doctors use palliative chemotherapy to kill cancer cells and reduce tumors so that patients can be relieved of active symptoms.

Apart from cancer, doctors administer chemotherapy for other conditions:

1. Bone Marrow Diseases: Doctors often use chemotherapy to prepare a bone marrow for a transplant, killing off existing cancerous cells in the bone marrow.
2. Immune System Conditions: In patients with auto-immune disorders such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, doctors use low doses of chemotherapy to manage overactive immune systems.

Chemotherapy Procedure

The procedure for chemotherapy treatment varies. The doctor will typically decide the chemotherapy treatment plan based on the type of cancer, stage of malignancy, previous cancer treatments, overall patient health, and patients’ health goals.

1. Intravenous infusion: The most common procedure for chemotherapy is intravenously through an injection into a vein in the arm or chest where the chemotherapy drugs would enter the body of the patient for over a few hours.
2. Oral Pills: Some chemotherapy drugs are available in the form of a pill or tablet that patients can swallow orally.
3. Injections: Similar to other shots, chemotherapy can also be administered as an injection.
4. Topical Cream: Most often, in cases of skin cancer, doctors would recommend chemotherapy drugs in the form of creams or gels that can be applied directly on the skin.
5. Location-specific Chemotherapy: Doctors use catheters to deliver chemotherapy drugs to specific regions of the body directly. For example, chemotherapy drugs can be administered directly to the abdomen through intraperitoneal chemotherapy.
6. Direct Chemotherapy: Doctors can also administer chemotherapy directly to the location where the tumor is by placing thin wafer disks containing chemotherapy drugs next to the tumor. As the wafer disks break down, the chemotherapy drugs are released.

Chemotherapy Side Effects

Chemotherapy targets cells that are dividing quickly, thereby killing cancer cells that divide rapidly. Chemotherapy is unable to differentiate between healthy and cancerous cells, resulting in many rapidly dividing healthy cells getting destroyed. As a result, there are many side effects of chemotherapy. Healthy cells that are badly affected include blood, hair, skin, and intestinal tract lining.

Here are some of the side effects of chemotherapy:

1. Nausea, vomiting
2. Hair loss
3. Dry mouth
4. Mouth sores
5. Fever
6. Loss of appetite, weight loss
7. Diarrhea
8. Easy bruising and excessive bleeding
9. Pain

Side effects will typically subside when the chemotherapy treatment ends. Chemotherapy may cause long-lasting damage to the heart, lungs, nerves, kidneys, and reproductive organs.

Factors affecting the cost of treatment in different states in India

The chemotherapy cost in India is low due to the less cost of chemotherapy drugs. Other factors also influence the overall cost of chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy cost in Delhi: A vast number of state-of-the-art hospitals and qualified oncologists

Chemotherapy cost in Mumbai: Excellent facilities and experienced doctors

Chemotherapy cost in Pune: A peaceful and quiet city, with top quality hospitals

Chemotherapy cost in Kolkata: Small hospitals with personalized care

Chemotherapy cost in Bangalore: Professional doctors and modern hospitals at low costs

Testimonials

Doctors found a tumor in my stomach and I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. I had been suffering from stomach cancer for eight months when I tried chemotherapy through Hospals. They immediately got me in touch with an excellent hospital and oncologist who managed to shrink my tumor enough to get me eligible for surgery. I have completed two years in remission, thanks to Hospals!

- Matthew Collins, Australia

My father has lung-cancer stage 2. He was in a lot of pain and had already undergone a round of chemo when we approached Hospals for further treatment. With their guidance, we found Medanta Hospital and had a second round of chemotherapy. His tumors shrunk down significantly, and he has been able to resume a healthy lifestyle.

- Khalid Hussain, Saudi Arabia

I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer stage 1. Thankfully I found Hospals at the right time, and with them a suitable doctor. After two rounds of chemotherapy, my cancer is gone, and my life is back to normal.

- Noor Abadi, Ethiopia

My Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was in advanced stages, having metastasized to multiple organs in my body. I was bleak as there seemed little hope for my survival. Hospals helped me find a cost-effective chemotherapy plan that has greatly helped with my pain so that I can live the remaining of my life relatively pain-free.

- Markeni Hanfare, Yemen