Dipika Kakar diagnosed with cancer

Popular television actress Dipika Kakar has revealed that she has been diagnosed with stage 2 liver cancer through an emotional Instagram post.

She and her actor husband, Shoaib Ibrahim, have been documenting the diagnosis ever since she suffered intense stomach pain and doctors discovered a tumour “the size of a tennis ball” in her liver, which was later confirmed to be cancerous.

Stage 2 liver cancer manifests as either a single tumour larger than 2 cm that has invaded blood vessels or multiple tumors of less than 5 cm. The cancer hasn’t spread to lymph nodes or other parts of the body at this stage.

“In stage 2, the cancer hasn’t spread to lymph nodes or hasn’t multiplied to distant parts of the body. There are high chances of cure with surgery,” says Dr Sachin Trivedi, Director of Medical Oncology, HCG Cancer Centre, Mumbai.

He also says that post-surgery protocols are very important to contain future relapse or spread. “Post-surgery, you need to do genomic testing of surgically removed cancer tissue to examine the DNA, which can provide insights into the cancer’s behaviour, response to treatment, and potential recurrence risk. Accordingly a doctor can decide on a multimodal approach treatment, including targetted therapies, immunotherapy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Newer blood tests tell us if the cancer can spread to the bloodstream so that we can nip it in the bud,” he says._Agencies