AIIMS Delhi invites heavy smokers for lung cancer research

If you are above 50, addicted to cigarette or bidi smoking and feel your lungs are healthy,  then doctors at AIIMS, Delhi’s Department of Pulmonary, Critical care and Sleep medicine are looking for you. The Department is conducting a pilot study to analyse the effect of low dose CT scan on early lung cancer diagnosis.  Generally, after the diagnosis of lung cancer, on average, only 8 to 9 months are left for a patient, but AIIMS is now working on a technology to see if there is any way to diagnose lung cancer patients in time.

“In this study heavy smokers above 50years will undergo free low dose CT scans,” Dr Ayush Goel said, adding that people who smoke a lot of cigarettes/bidi are vulnerable to  lung cancer than others.

According to an estimate, there were around 103371 cases of lung cancer in India in 2022. “Most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage leading to poor outcomes with the median overall survival being only 8.8 months. Screening using low dose computed tomography (Low Dose CT scan) among smokers may be one of the modalities that could help  pick up lung cancer early,” explained Dr Goel.

By identifying the illness early, patients can undergo surgical intervention rather than resorting to chemotherapy

This study is for a short term defined period--only of a few months, or till the planned numbers are achieved.

The study will be conducted on 200 to 250 participants including men and women.

According to Dr Goel, the median range of survival post the detection of a lung cancer is merely 8.8 months.  By the time the cancer is detected, the disease spreads throughout the body AIIMS will work to see if there is any way to identify lung cancer patients on time.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers diagnosed. In India the incidence continues to increase ranking as the 4th leading cause of cancer related death.

New class of antibiotic candidates identified

Using a type of artificial intelligence known as deep learning, MIT researchers have discovered a class of compounds that can kill a drug-resistant bacterium. In a study appearing in Nature, the researchers showed that these compounds could kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) grown in a lab dish and in two mouse models of MRSA infection. The compounds also show very low toxicity against human cells, making them particularly good drug candidates.