Tumour diagnosis test at NBMCH

TT, Siliguri, Oct. 31: North Bengal Medical College and Hospital here will start conducting immunohistochemistry (IHC) investigation within a fortnight to determine different types of tumours in patients so that they can be given accurate treatment.

According to NBMCH officials, the IHC investigations will be conducted in the department of pathology and patients will be charged according to state government rates.

“The IHC investigation is an advanced diagnostic procedure and is currently conducted in some private clinics and pathological labs in Siliguri. NBMCH will start conducting the tests within a fortnight. While patients are charged as much as Rs 2,500 in private nursing homes for an IHC examination, those who will avail themselves of the test at NBMCH will have to pay according to state government rate which is about Rs 500. But the test will be free for patients who are below the poverty line,” an NBMCH official said here today.

North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb who had held meetings of Rogi Kalyan Samiti and governing body of NBMCH on Tuesday had said IHC investigations would start at the facility soon.

Doctors in the pathology department of NBMCH said the IHC tests would help in determining different types of tumours in patients and prescribing treatment.

“The IHC test is conducted both on malignant and benign tumours and is an additional examination after the biopsy. As there are more than 10,000 types of tumours, the IHC will help us diagnose exactly which type of tumour it is. The IHC test is more advanced and perfect than the biopsy which is usually conducted in hospitals and private nursing homes here. The most helpful part is that if doctors are sure of the type of tumour in a patient, it will help them in prescribing the accurate treatment,” said the pathologist.

According to NBMCH sources, only basic IHC investigations will be carried out in the beginning.

“There are different types of IHC investigations and the more sophisticated they are, the costlier the charges. We are starting only the basic types of IHC tests for now and plan to introduce the sophisticated tests later on,” said a source.