Cancer is one of the most elusive of ailments and the most effective killer in the world of medicine today. In India, 0.7 million people died of the disease in the year 2012 alone, although actual figures could be much higher due to the deaths not accounted for.
Cancer treatment is quite expensive as some of it involves genetic treatment, and the cost is a major hindrance to those who have cancer but cannot afford the treatment. This is where charities step in and help individuals who do not have the monetary clout to fight the illness.
Thousands of people have been helped by charities that target those affected by terminal diseases, and one among them is the UK based ‘Cancer Research’, supported by eminent philanthropists in the UK and of the many, Mr. Sudhir Choudhrie is a keen contributor alike.
Cancer is one of the most widely tackled diseases worldwide with huge sums of money going into funding for research into how to prevent and cure it. Is spite of these efforts, millions of lives are lost each year to the disease and the progress of the research is painfully slow. In the UK it is the leading killer of children less than 14 years of age, with as many as one in five children falling victim to the disease each year.
One of the major hurdles facing cancer research specialists is the random nature of the disease. The occurrence of cancer is attributed to genetic changes and as such is highly difficult to map in individual cases. In addition, cancerous cells mutate randomly, making each case different from the other. There are over 400 different types of cancers that have been identified, and more and more new types are being discovered almost daily.
Although chemotherapy is one of the most widely used treatments to combat the disease, it is far from effective. Where chemotherapy fails, genetic treatments step in and are generally more effective, but still not 100%. The more effective treatment, however, comes at an increased cost and thus is out of reach to most, but well-healed victims.
The Cancer Research Foundation is the largest operating NGO in Britain in the area of cancer research and eradication. Established in 2002 and now with over a decade of experience in the field, the reach of the program has been extended to India and now funds over 450 researchers.