Early detection is crucial to fight breast cancer. Awareness and early detection are powerful tools for improving breast cancer outcomes. This helps to diagnose early-stage cancers and treat effectively.

We sometimes hear the word cancer and feel that nothing can be done to prevent it. But many cancers are preventable. Living a healthier life can have a major impact on reducing the chance of cancer in our lifetime. In fact, it also reduces the chance of other diseases such as diabetes, or heart attack.

Cancer is a disease that is constantly on the rise in our modern world. We’ve all seen the statistics. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide with more than 2 million new cases diagnosed in 2018, accounting for 25% of all new cancer cases in women and 627000 deaths from breast cancer worldwide last year. These figures highlight that much remains to be done to address the alarming rise in the breast cancer burden and that prevention has a key role to play to control this devastating disease across the world. Only due to lack of awareness, the death rate of breast cancer patients is high.

While early detection is crucial for fighting breast cancer, we have witnessed that a large number of women don’t know the early signs of breast cancer while others are hesitant to seek medical advice out of embarrassment or fear. In addition, the majority of women aren’t unaware that their lifestyle choices could put them at greater risk.

Like most cancers, older age is the strongest risk factor for breast cancer. If you find changes in your breast that aren’t normal for you, such as a limp, it’s best to see your doctor as soon as possible. The most common sign is a lump or mass in the breast. Other symptoms include persistent changes to the breast, such as thickening, swelling, distortion, tenderness, skin irritation, redness, scaliness, and nipple abnormalities or spontaneous nipple discharge. Early breast cancer usually has no symptoms and is most often diagnosed through mammography screening.

Awareness and early detection are powerful tools for improving breast cancer outcomes. The main objective of early detection is to diagnose precancerous lesions or early-stage cancers when they can be treated most effectively. Early detection is only valuable if it leads to timely diagnostic follow-up and effective treatment.While it is important to spread awareness about the disease, it is equally important to discuss groundbreaking technologies that have changed the process of diagnosis and treatment to save lives of so many individuals.

Dr. Naresh Ramarajan

Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Navya 

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10-year-old Uday Nair from Bangalore complained to his dad about pain near his spine. A similar pain on the same spot had occurred a year ago as well, but the doctors had not found anything abnormal in the X-rays. However, this time around they found a lump, which on observation for four months had increased in size. Around this time Uday started experiencing intense pain, which constantly increased with every passing day making it impossible for Uday to even stand for a few minutes. The next few weeks were the most difficult days for the entire family. Uday had to undergo several radiological scans and the family was shutting between diagnostic centres, laboratories, and the hospital.  Doctors decided to surgically remove the lump.  A surgery was done post his MRI report and the specimen of lumbar lesion was sent for biopsy. Pathological slides were sent to a reputable lab for Immunochemistry tests, and the pathology report suggested Wilms Tumor. Accordingly, his treatment started in a cancer hospital in Bangalore.

To be doubly sure, Uday’s father decided to get another pathology review of the cancerous lesion, but this time the pathology reports suggested the diagnosis of Biphasic Synovial Sarcoma. This led to a traumatic mental phase not only the parents but also for the treating doctors, who were uncertain whether the cancer treatment plan should be for Wilm’s Tumor or Synovial Sarcoma.

An expert opinion became extremely imminent at this stage and as the next obvious step, Uday’s father decided to go to Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai. However, travelling at this time was not easy, leaving Uday and the family behind, amid the rising anxiety. In his internet search, he came across Tata Memorial Centre Online – Navya Expert Opinion Service at www.navya.care , to get the advice of world-renowned experts, online.

Navya, a Bangalore-based clinical informatics company, founded in collaboration with Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) and National Cancer Grid (NCG), provides online expert opinions to cancer patients. This service allows patients to upload their reports and get a response from world renowned experts within 24 hours. To ensure that the treatment plan is comprehensive, Navya processes the case of every cancer patient by incorporating multidisciplinary expert opinions of several experts from Tata Memorial Centre and National Cancer Grid, a consortium of expert centers in India like AIIMS, Adyar, Max, etc. Anyone can register on Navya.Care and receive an expert opinion from the comfort of their home.

Sharing his personal experience benefiting from Navya.Care, Mr. Deepak Nair father of the patient says, “At first, I was not serious with pursuing my son’s case with Navya but the quality of phone calls from Navya’s Patient Advocates, gave me confidence and I uploaded all the medical reports of Uday on Navya Care. I was expecting a simple report but what I received was simply enormous. A detailed report on a step by step detailed treatment plan which also included response from experts to several questions that were asked on my behalf. I was not aware that I should have asked those questions, which were very most fundamental and highly relevant for Uday’s case.  Navya eased my son’s case by taking over completely as if it is the case of their own son. This kind of approach is really commendable. The systematic hard work by Navya, ensured an accurate and detailed expert opinion by TMC experts, which was in line with the ongoing treatment and I was totally relieved of stress.  My treating oncologists simply inserted the Navya report in my son’s medical reports folder in the hospital.  The consensus between my oncologist and the Navya report based on the TMC oncologists brought us relief as parents of a 10-year-old.  The entire report showed the hard work, sincerity, involvement and commitment of Navya and TMC and I am thankful and grateful for the precious time spent by each one in arriving at such a remarkable report.”

Gitika Srivastava, Founder of Navya, says: “Most people who have had any experience with cancer are aware that it can be stressful to ensure the best way forward. It’s not always possible to gain access to the cancer experts who are renowned in your specific type of cancer or treatment type. Sometimes, there are only a handful of such experts with the specific experience and you want to reach them to ensure that you are receiving the expert treatment plan.  With Navya, you can be assured that the opinion rests on the experience of world-renowned cancer experts collaborating for the best possible treatment plan suited to your loved one’s case. This is critically important as cancer decisions are complex and often involve several organs and types of treatments.”

Navya’s patented system uses clinical informatics, predictive analytics and machine learning. Navya learns from evidence, prior tumor board decisions and quick review from expert oncologists to recommend tailored treatment plans to patients at all levels of affordability.

“Cutting through boundaries and making expert cancer care accessible to one and all is TMC’s constant aim, and with Navya we achieve this,” says Padma Shri Dr. Rajendra Badwe, Director of Tata Memorial Centre.  

“Treating oncologists at small and large centers can consult with specialist colleagues online in a simulated tumor board that results in expert treatment decisions for patients everywhere,” adds Dr. CS Pramesh, Coordinator of National Cancer Grid, a consortium of over 160 cancer centers with the government mandate to standardize expert cancer care across the country. 

At world renowned cancer centers, all cases are reviewed by a tumor board of cancer experts who jointly arrive at a treatment decision. The intent is to recommend a path that will provide a complete cure or extend years of cancer free survival or improve quality of life. Having all relevant specialists weigh in and review the case is the ideal scenario but this is unfortunately not the modus operandi at most hospitals. By leveraging its patented technology and collaboration with the best cancer experts in the country, this is possible through TMC NCG Online – Navya Expert Opinion Service at www.navya.care

“An expert opinion on cancer treatment, especially when available quick and early in the treatment process, can significantly improve the health outcome. Many cancers are curable or can be managed for a number of years if diagnosed early and treated appropriately. Also, there are patients hailing from remote parts of the country who would require a second opinion and travelling to various expert cancer centres requires time, effort and energy. Sometimes a patient is not in a position to travel that far. With a second opinion by experts, patients can avoid sub-optimal or over treatments and know the right line of treatment”, added Gitika.

About Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) / National Cancer Grid (NCG)

TMC is Asia’s largest leading tertiary care expert cancer center, seeing over 67,000 cancer patients every year. Its strength necessitates a responsibility to make its expertise available to patients across India and developing countries, especially those who reside in locations where there are no expert cancer care centers. The NCG is a consortium of over 160 cancer centers, with a mandate to standardize cancer care, nationally. NCG is the largest global network of cancer centers collaborating to use technology and training to bring cancer expertise to every oncologist and cancer patient in India.

About Navya

Navya is a clinical informatics and patient services organization with a unique understanding of cancer patients and oncologists, and a core commitment to cancer care. With a proven track record of successfully implementing innovative solutions that are low cost and effective, Navya is the first to develop technology systems specific to Indian cancer data for use by cancer patients and oncologists in India. 

Website: http://www.navya.info

The post Navya expert online opinion service helps cancer patients to get new lease on life appeared first on Health Vision.

10-year-old Uday Nair from Bangalore complained to his dad about pain near his spine. Has experienced a comparable pain on the same spot a year ago as well, but the doctors had not seen anything unusual in the X-rays. However, this time around they found a lump, which on observation for four months had increased in size. Around this time Uday started experiencing intense pain, which constantly increased with every passing day making it impossible for Uday to even stand for a few minutes. The next few weeks were the most difficult days for the entire family. Uday had to undergo several radiological scans and the family was shutting between diagnostic centres, laboratories, and the hospital.  Doctors decided to surgically remove the lump.  A surgery was done post his MRI report and the specimen of lumbar lesion was sent for biopsy. Pathological slides were sent to a reputable lab for Immuno-chemistry tests, and the pathology report suggested Wilms Tumor. Accordingly, his treatment started in a cancer hospital in Bangalore.

To be doubly sure, Uday’s father decided to get another pathology review of the cancerous lesion, but this time the pathology reports suggested the diagnosis of Biphasic Synovial Sarcoma. This led to a traumatic mental phase not only the parents but also for the treating doctors, who were uncertain whether the cancer treatment plan should be for Wilm’s Tumor or Synovial Sarcoma.

An expert opinion became extremely imminent at this stage and as the next obvious step, Uday’s father decided to go to Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai. However, travelling at this time was not easy, leaving Uday and the family behind, amid the rising anxiety. 

Navya, a Bangalore-based clinical informatics company, founded in collaboration with Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) and National Cancer Grid (NCG), provides online expert opinions to cancer patients. This provision permits patients to upload their reports and get a reply from world well-known experts within 24 hours. To ensure that the treatment plan is comprehensive, Navya processes the case of every cancer patient by incorporating multidisciplinary expert opinions of several experts from Tata Memorial Centre and National Cancer Grid, a consortium of expert centers in India like AIIMS, Adyar, Max, etc. Anyone can register on Navya.Care and receive an expert opinion from the comfort of their home.

Sharing his personal experience benefiting from Navya. Care, Mr. Deepak Nair father of the patient says, “At first, I was not serious with pursuing my son’s case with Navya but the quality of phone calls from Navya’s Patient Advocates, gave me confidence and I uploaded all the medical reports of Uday on Navya Care. I was looking forward for a simple report but what I got was simply huge. A detailed report on a step by step detailed treatment plan which also included response from experts to several questions that were asked on my behalf. I was not aware that I should have asked those questions, which were very most fundamental and highly relevant for Uday’s case.  Navya eased my son’s case by taking over completely as if it is the case of their own son. This kind of approach is really commendable. The systematic hard work by Navya, ensured an accurate and detailed expert opinion by TMC experts, which was in line with the ongoing treatment and I was totally relieved of stress.  My treating oncologists simply inserted the Navya report in my son’s medical reports folder in the hospital.  The consensus between my oncologist and the Navya report based on the TMC oncologists brought us relief as parents of a 10-year-old.  The entire report showed the hard work, sincerity, involvement and commitment of Navya and TMC and I am thankful and grateful for the precious time spent by each one in arriving at such a remarkable report.”

Gitika Srivastava, Founder of Navya, says: “Most people who have had any experience with cancer are aware that it can be stressful to ensure the best way forward. It’s not always possible to gain access to the cancer experts who are renowned in your specific type of cancer or treatment type. Sometimes, there are only a handful of such experts with the specific experience and you want to reach them to ensure that you are receiving the expert treatment plan.  With Navya, you can be assured that the opinion rests on the experience of world-renowned cancer experts collaborating for the best possible treatment plan suited to your loved one’s case. This is critically important as cancer decisions are complex and often involve several organs and types of treatments.”

Navya’s patented system uses clinical informatics, predictive analytics and machine learning. Navya learns from evidence, prior tumor board decisions and quick review from expert oncologists to recommend tailored treatment plans to patients at all levels of affordability.

“Cutting through boundaries and making expert cancer care accessible to one and all is TMC’s constant aim, and with Navya we achieve this,” says Padma Shri Dr. Rajendra Badwe, Director of Tata Memorial Centre.  

“Treating oncologists at small and large centers can consult with specialist colleagues online in a simulated tumor board that results in expert treatment decisions for patients everywhere,” adds Dr. CS Pramesh, Coordinator of National Cancer Grid, a consortium of over 160 cancer centers with the government mandate to standardize expert cancer care across the country. 

At world renowned cancer centers, all cases are reviewed by a tumor board of cancer experts who jointly arrive at a treatment decision. The intent is to recommend a path that will provide a complete cure or extend years of cancer free survival or improve quality of life. Having all relevant specialists weigh in and review the case is the ideal scenario but this is unfortunately not the modus operandi at most hospitals. By leveraging its patented technology and collaboration with the best cancer experts in the country, this is possible through TMC NCG Online – Navya Expert Opinion Service at www.navya.care

“An expert opinion on cancer treatment, especially when available quick and early in the treatment process, can significantly improve the health outcome. Many cancers are curable or can be managed for a number of years if identified initially and treated properly.  Also, there are patients hailing from remote parts of the country who would require a second opinion and travelling to various expert cancer centres requires time, effort and energy. At times a patient is not in a situation for long travel. With a second opinion by experts, patients can avoid sub-optimal or over treatments and know the right line of treatment”, added Gitika.

The post Navya – Cancer Expertise Accessible and Affordable appeared first on Health Vision.