Adult Oncology
The Adult Oncology Program focuses on the prevention and early diagnosis of common cancers. The projects within this program aim to:
- Emphasize community engagement in order to raise public awareness about cancer;
- Train community-based health care professionals, including nursing students to recognize the early signs of common cancers and to refer any suspected cases to local centers capable of treating them; and
- Utilize distance learning to provide specialist training in radiation oncology
The specific projects within the Adult Oncology program are focused on breast, cervical and oral cancers and are being conducted in India by INCTR India and Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration (INCTR Canada).
INCTR India
Prevention and Early Diagnosis of Cancer in Poor Urban Areas
and in Rural and Tribal Regions in Rajasthan
This project’s objective is to promote healthy life-styles and to provide early detection of breast, cervical, and oral cancers for those living in the poorer parts of Rajasthan. India INCTR, in collaboration with an urban cancer hospital and regional rural hospitals, conduct health camps on a monthly basis. Health check-ups are provided to all who attend. Oral cancer screening is offered to all health camp participants. Breast and cervical cancer screening are provided to women who wish to be screened for either or both of these cancers. Approximately 1200 women are screened in a given month. INCTR India, in partnership with the Biyani Nursing College, trains senior nursing students to raise awareness about cancer and also how to detect these three main cancers. During their final elective in nursing school, the students provide community-based education about cancer and make home visits daily in order to screen for women’s cancers, particularly for those women who are unable to attend the health camps. They screen an additional 400 to 500 women monthly. All suspected cases of cancer are referred to the local referral hospitals and in turn, if the hospitals are unable to manage the cases, they are referred on to the cancer speciality hospital in Jaipur.
Nursing Students from Biyani Nursing College
Tobacco Control in Rajasthan
INCTR India has initiated a “Tobacco-Free Workplace” program and hopes to expand this within Rajasthan. Its partner in this endeavor is WHO India.
For more information about INCTR India’s projects, contact: inctrindia@gmail.com.
Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration (INCTR Canada)
Lara Nara Program
The concept of the Lara Nara program is to use an internet-based distance-learning platform for radiation oncology that offers real-time student assessment, mentoring, feedback and correction for health professionals. A pilot study was initiated in February 2016 with a group of Radiation Oncologists and trainees and is still on-going. This is being conducted at the MNJ Institute of Oncology in Hyderabad, India in collaboration with Lund University, Sweden and the British Columbia Cancer Agency, Canada, in addition to Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration (TWCC).
Oral Cancer, Prevention and Early Detection Program
This collaborative initiative is a population-based screening and early detection program for oral cavity cancer with organizations in India: MNJ Institute of Oncology, Government Dental College, Panineeya Institute of Dental Science & Hospital and the University of British Columbia.
The elements of the program are community-based extra-oral and intra-oral cavity examination using white and ultraviolet light examination (VeLScope) to detect early lesions, using triage of lesions according to risk level for biopsy and specialist referral, evaluation of biopsies using conventional and molecular determinants of tumor biology and UV-assisted determination of oral mucosal transformation associated with resection of oral lesions.
A feasibility study took place in March 2018 and a formal study was initiated in March 2019.
For more information about TWCC/INCTR Canada’s projects in India, contact: info@twoworldscancer.ca.