Doctors Count on EO 26 to Help Curb Cancer-Related Deaths

Cancer specialists are banking on the proper implementation of Executive Order 26 to help reduce the incidence of smoking-related cancers.

“It (EO 26) will definitely help, as it will also reduce people’s exposure to second-hand smoke. Of course, implementation is another thing. That is important,” Dr. Dennis Sacdalan, medical oncologist at the Medical Center Manila, said during a press briefing held as the hospital opened its new Cancer Care Center Tuesday.

Sacdalan, who also heads the center, said EO 26 on establishing smoke-free environments across the country would help bring down the number of deaths from cancers linked to smoking, such as those of the lungs, mouth, throat, larynx, pancreas, and colon.

“There is a lot of evidence showing that reducing smoking decreases the number of cancer-related deaths,” he said.

Fellow medical oncologist, Dr. Lou Jorel Tia, noted that lung, prostate, liver and colorectal cancer are the most common cancers among men, while breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, liver and ovarian cancers are the most common among women.

“Based on statistics, we have lung and liver cancer having the highest mortality rates, and by highest mortality rates, (it means) the total (number of) deaths coming from these cancers is almost equal to the total (number of) cases in the country,” he said.

Tia pointed out that more treatment options, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, have become available, significantly improving the survival of cancer patients.

“Unfortunately, treatment for liver cancer is still limited and this somehow explains the persistent high mortality rate in this type of cancer,” he said.

Tia, on the other hand, noted that the mortality rate for breast cancer is less than half of the cases while it is about 50 percent for colorectal cancer, mainly due to the availability of early screening programs for these types of cancer, along with the vaccine for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

Meanwhile, ManilaMed president and CEO, Jose Ronaldo de los Santos, said that in the Philippines, only 35 out of 1,800 hospitals have radiation therapy, and half of them are in the National Capital Region.

Only a dozen offer modern treatment, while the rest have obsolete equipment, he said, adding that of the dozen, only two offer the latest technology that gives patients the least tissue damage.

Sacdalan said one of the features of ManilaMed’s Cancer Care Center is its multi-disciplinary approach in the management of cancer.

“We bring people from different disciplines, different specialties together in one setting, so that all aspects of the patient’s treatment can be covered,” said Dr. Vicente Hizon, radiation oncologist and head of the therapy unit of ManilaMed. (PNA)