Apollo Proton Cancer Centre introduces new clinic for liver cancer patients

Apollo Proton Cancer Centre (APCC) has launched an ‘Advanced Liver Cancers Clinic’, an integrated clinic for primary liver cancers and liver metastases.

Radhakrishnan Thiagarajan, retired Additional Director-General of Police, inaugurated the clinic in the presence of Karan Puri, Chief Executive Officer, Apollo Cancer Centres and APCC, and Sujith Kumar Mullapally, consultant, medical oncology, APCC, according to a press release.

Over the past decade, liver cancer burden has increased significantly in India, accounting for nearly 6% of the world’s liver cancer cases. This is due to a steady rise in hepatitis infections, alcoholic liver disease, obesity, and delayed detection. Tamil Nadu is witnessing an increase in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and metastases to the liver, especially in patients with underlying liver diseases, the release said.

HCC is the most common form of liver cancer, usually developing from long-term damage to the liver, such as scarring (cirrhosis) caused by chronic hepatitis B or C, heavy alcohol use or fatty liver disease. The release added that the absence of specialised, liver-specific multidisciplinary programmes had often resulted in treatment gaps and late interventions.

Apollo’s Advanced Liver Cancers Clinic has specialists from medical oncology, surgical gastroenterology, hepatobiliary surgery, radiation oncology, interventional radiology, medical genetics, pathology, anaesthesia, pain, and palliative care. Dr. Mullapally said the clinic would enable them to create standardised treatment pathways, conduct prospective research, and explore emerging therapies, while placing the patient at the centre of everything they do.