Crickipedia.com

Find Us On

Cricketer of the Day

Latest News

Yuvraj Singh has cancer, in US for chemotherapy since January

NEW DELHI 6 FEB 2012: India's World Cup hero and man of the tournament, Yuvraj Singh, has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy in the United States, his physiotherapist revealed on Sunday.

This was corroborated by sources in the family and in the Indian cricket board. Yuvraj had earlier been detected with a tumour between his left lung and heart, which has since been termed malignant. "He is suffering from cancer and this is the first stage. It's curable and he will be fit to play in May. He will be back on the field very soon," his physiotherapist Jatin Chaudhary told TOI. BCCI officials, however, said the lay-off could be longer and that chemotherapy was scheduled to continue for nine weeks. Family sources said Yuvi, who has made many comebacks into the Indian team, is determined to overcome the disease. They said the chemo sessions had begun and he had lost weight. "He is showing common after-effects of the treatment - loss of appetite and nausea. He is anxious but also keen to fight the ailment," a family source said. TOUGH SPELL Yuvraj has been in the US since January 26 for chemotherapy at Cancer Research Institute, Boston Tumour in lung detected earlier, now diagnosed as malignant. Doctor says parts of tumour are just above artery of heart, 100% curable Physio Jatin Chaudhary says diagnosis delayed till Oct 2011 as first biopsy report was stolen, then an Indian hospital (unnamed) got diagnosis wrong. Finally, a Russian doc detected cancer. Chaudhary said the cancer treatment was delayed by wrong diagnosis by an Indian hospital. Agencies quoted Chaudhary as saying: "His first biopsy report was stolen from his car. In the second biopsy, the hospital-I don't want to name it -did not give the correct diagnosis. It was a Russian doctor who detected the cancer and after consultations with doctors in the US, it was decided that Yuvi would undergo chemotherapy." Yuvi's ailment very rare: Docs Yuvraj Singh has been undergoing treatment for cancer in the US. Going by the line of treatment he is receiving, doctors here said Yuvraj was likely suffering from a rare condition called lung seminoma, in which chances of recovery are more than 95%. This condition has no relation to excessive smoking or alcoholism. "He appears to have lung seminoma, a condition in which there is cancerous growth of the size of a golf ball in the organs. It occurs due to genetic predisposition developed during the fetal development phase and is relatively rare," said Dr Anshuman Kumar, surgical oncologist at Dharmshila Cancer Hospital and Research Centre. "The germ cells that cause lung seminoma are responsive to chemotherapy. Normally, we give three-four cycles of chemo to the patient over a period of about three months. In case there is any residual cancerous cell in the body, surgery is opted for," Dr Kumar said. He added that unlike lung cancer, which occurs in elderly people, lung seminoma affects people in the age group of 15 to 35 years and is usually detected early. The symptoms include breathing difficulty especially on exertion, persistent cough and blood with sputum. Jatin Chaudhary said the cancer was curable. "Doctors had to decide whether to continue medication or go for chemotherapy. But since parts of the tumour are just above the artery of his heart, there was a danger that while running it could burst," he said. "The doctors decided that he would have to undergo chemotherapy and he travelled to the US on January 26. By the end of March, he would undergo a CT scan and should recover by then. After that he would need some rehabilitation in April," Chaudhary was quoted as saying in the media. BCCI sources said, if all goes well, Yuvraj would take around six months to make a comeback. This is what the board had told the IPL franchisee during Saturday's auction in Bangalore, after his team, Pune Warriors, walked out of the event. Sources said BCCI would bear the expenses for Yuvraj's treatment in the US and his IPL franchisee, Sahara India, would release $1.8 million that the player would have received had played in the IPL this year. For the family , however, these are secondary issues at the moment . Before leaving for the US, Yuvraj's mother Shabnam Singh had told TOI, "For me, the health of my son is more important than cricket at this stage." TOI had first reported about Yuvraj's illness on November 27, 2011. On January 15, TOI said Yuvraj could miss this year's IPL. Courtesy:TOI

Comments powered by Disqus