Student researchers bid to find how some beat cancer

CHENNAI: How do some cancer patients manage to get better after treatment while a few others deteriorate? Should a patient with oesophageal cancer be given chemotherapy ahead of surgery? Is PET-CT a better diagnostic tool when compared to Dota scan?
When practising senior surgical gastroenterologists posed these questions to undergraduate medical students nearly six months ago, many came up with research projects.
A week from now, at least 80 research papers including “six path-breaking” research by pre-final and final year medical students will be presented at an international conference organised by ESO India at Sri Ramachandra University.
“This is probably the first time we are getting so many undergraduate students to not just do research but also present them at an international conference before renowed scientists and surgeons. We are hoping it will encourage more students to research,” said professor and general surgeon Dr K Balaji Singh.
These studies may not immediately change the way patients are being treated, but they have the scope of sparking more research that will help us improve outcomes, said senior surgical gastroenterologist Dr S M Chandramohan, who is also the president of ESO India. “The survival rate for stomach and food pipe cancer is 10%. More research will help us find better solutions that can push up survival rates,” he said.
For instance, after screening nearly 50 patients with oesophageal cancer and an equal number of patients with gastric cancer, pre-final medical students found that metabolic activity and glycolysis (a process that breaks down carbohydrates and sugars through a series of reactions to either pyruvic acid or lactic acid and release energy) can give vital information about the treatment.
“As of now, we just use PET-CT to give us information about virulent tumours. Adding this to the imaging information will give us more insight into who will respond to treatment. We will be able to modify treatment,” said ESO India secretary Dr M Kanagavel.
The international conference on oesophagus and stomach, to be held between June 15 and 17, aims to “bring out the best”, from everybody doing upper gastroenterological work in urban, semi-urban or rural areas in private or public sector. Experts from at least nine countries will offer hands-on training to postgraduates and doctors in advanced surgeries on cadavers.
The aim is to offer the best care for patients with gastric cancers, corrosive injuries and strictures to the upper digestive tract.