Georgetown: The Cancer Institute is reporting that breast cancer dominated its cases while the month of May recorded the 16 patients seeking care, according to the statistical 2015 report.
The institute located in the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) compound, East and Lamaha Streets, Georgetown noted that it treated 125 cases of breast cancer while cervical cancer which followed amounted to 47. The Oncology department had a total of 314 patients registered in 2015.
The Cancer Institute came into existence via a collaborative effort between the Government of Guyana – through the Ministry of Health – and the Private Sector, in the form of Global Imaging Services Incorporated. The facility was established in 2006, however Global Imaging Services (GIS) Inc. has been in operation locally since 2003, but dealt primarily with computerised tomography (CT) scans and Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and was also the only institution at the time providing services in diagnosing and treating cancer.
Since its establishment, records show that the Cancer Institute has diagnosed numerous patients and has treated over 960 for Radiation Therapy. Of that total, 63 persons were treated with Intra-Cavitary Radiation Therapy. This is the type of treatment used for persons with cervical cancer.
It has been found that this form of the disease is the most common type diagnosed and treated at the Institute – followed by breast, lung, spine and on a lower level, skin cancer.
Cervical Cancer is a disease which attacks a woman’s cervix. The cervix is the lower, narrow end of the uterus. Cervical cancer affects most women over 30 years old. But like most types of cancer, once detected early and with the right type of treatment, there is a high chance of survival and a good quality of life.
The Cancer Institute provides screening for this type of cancer and others, and given that this is the cancer that is most prevalent, it is advised that women have pap smears done at least once a year.
One major issue the Institute is faced with is late detection.
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