Has the time come for doing away with Cobalt-60 teletherapy for cancer treatments

Cancer disease tops among the causes of death, and in the year 2020 about 20 million new cancer cases may be expected globally. Majority of them will be in developing countries with more population, less financial resources, and other major priorities than health problems. More than 70% of all cancer deaths now occur in these countries and cancer kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Inter-Society Council for Radiation Oncology (ISCRO), USA[1] gives a direction that every patient with cancer deserves best possible management, either cure, long-term tumor control or palliation. World Cancer Report by the World Health Organization (WHO)[2] brought out the type of prevailing cancers in twelve world regions. It is seen that in most of the developing world with higher population, such as south central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, cancers of cervix uteri, breast, oral cavity, forms the bulk of malignancies. The major goal for the future, therefore, should be to plan for providing treatment facilities for each cancer patient despite their stage at diagnosis. In these circumstances, clear strategies to address augmentation of infrastructure for cancer management is the need of the hour.