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With the number of cancer cases expected to doubled or even triple over the next 20 years in emerging countries, medical experts have stressed the need for immediate preventive and treatment measures.

Prof. Guido Tytgat, president of the World Gastroenterology Organization and a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Science, said over the weekend that Indonesia in particular needed to prepare for the threat.

“With a population of 230 million, Indonesia deserves to have [more] world-class comprehensive cancer centers to defeat cancer and create a multidisciplinary team to work together in harmony,” he said.

He added it was crucial for oncologists, radiotherapists, pathologists, nurses and other health experts to work together to treat cancer cases. However, he said the nation’s level of preparedness was still far from ideal.

Hanny Moniaga, chief executive of the Mochtar Riady Comprehensive Cancer Center, Siloam Hospital, in Semanggi, South Jakarta, agreed that more needed to be done.

“Our doctors still tend to work alone, while we need a comprehensive management or multidisciplinary approach to treat cancer,” he said.

“This needs to change.”

There are only three medical centers in the country that provide comprehensive treatment for cancer patients: MRCCC, the Comprehensive Cancer Care Clinic at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital and Dharmais Hospital, the national referral center for cancer cases. All three are in Jakarta.

In addition to having the right facilities in place to treat the disease, Tytgat said preventive measures were also needed, including campaigns to promote healthier lifestyles and regular testing for early detection.

“The unhealthy [diet] you take is disturbing your digestive tract, and now 1.5 million people annually are suffering cancer — with the majority from colorectal cancer — and that figure is increasing,” he said.

“We need to teach patients and people about healthy lifestyles — low-fat, high-fiber diets — and physical exercise that is important to stimulate your digestive tract.”

He added that people should also give up smoking, pointing out that 20 percent of colorectal cancer patients were active smokers.

In this particular kind of cancer, Tytgat went on, people needed to be alert for early signs of the disease, such as fecal blood.

“People can look to see if there’s blood in their stool, because most cancerous tumors will give that sign,” he said.

People with this symptom should then get a colonoscopy to verify whether they have colorectal cancer or some other ailment.

Tytgat added it was important to go for regular screenings because early detection would allow patients to undergo shorter and hence less costly treatment regimes with better results and prognoses.

He said Asians and Middle Easterners should go for a screening 10 to 15 years earlier than the average European.

“Why do these tumors occur earlier among people from Asia and the Middle East? We still do not know,” he said, adding that at age 50, Europeans were recommended to start regular screenings for colorectal cancer.

Data from Dharmais Hospital in 2009 showed that 6.5 percent of patients who underwent colonoscopies each year were found to have colorectal cancer.

A 2008 study by the Health Ministry showed that the rate of detection of the disease among Indonesians was only 1.8 in every 100,000 people.

Eko Purnomo, a nuclear radiologist at MRCCC, said Indonesians needed to change their fatalistic attitude about cancer treatment, prognosis and costs.

“Indonesian patients tend to be afraid of the doctors’ findings,” he said. “This way of thinking needs to change because cancer is curable and early detection is important.”

The experts were speaking during an event at the MRCCC Siloam Semanggi over the weekend titled “Symposium and Workshop on Breast, Colorectal and Liver Cancer Update.”

Siloam Hospitals and the Jakarta Globe are affiliated with the Lippo Group.