Day care cancer centre opens at Canadian Specialist Hospital, Dubai

Dubai: Managing life with cancer and its prolonged treatment can be very depressing but with the concept of day care cancer centres in the UAE, many cancer patients are availing the services and the treatment for a few hours and are able to leave the premise the same day, getting back to work and to their families.

One such state-of-art care cancer centre was inaugurated earlier this month at the Canadian Specialist Hospital, Dubai. The centre, which has been opened in collaboration with India’s leading oncology centre, the Max Health Institute (MHIL), will provide treatment for a variety of adult and paediatric cancers such as breast, lung, liver, colon, colorectal, stomach, prostate, brain, leukaemia, cervix, kidney, pancreas, oesophagus, ovarian sarcomas and other common and rare cancers, among Emiratis, residents and medical tourists. The centre will soon expand to include surgical oncology services.

Dr Prasanta Das, oncologist from MHIL, who is heading the centre, told Gulf News: “The day care oncology centre requires patients to be in hospital for a short period which could stretch from 4-6 hours and once their treatment is completed they are discharged. Many are able to go back and report to work, while many are happy to be with their families in instead of being admitted long term for treatment. This helps patients psychologically and allows them to remain productive through the course of the treatment.”

Test case

Take the case of GB. The self-employed Indian expatriate was diagnosed with stage II lymphoma. He requires chemotherapy once every two weeks and usually checks in on a Saturday morning at 9am. “I stay in the hospital for 4-6 hours and am back home by 3pm. This lets me get on with my work. Every person has different side effects with chemotherapy. In my case, it is extreme fatigue on day 4. So usually, in the week I undergo chemo, I work through the week after chemo, take two days off on Thursday and Friday as I am self-employed. The day care centre has helped me manage my treatment cycles. So far, I have undergone four cycles of chemo. I think not being admitted to the hospital and being with family provides a patient tremendous moral support.”

The new clinical model for cancer care will be at par with the best-in-class clinical expertise and medical technologies, provided with personalised care to each patient.