Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Oncology and Research (SRIOR) today launched e-books featuring early signs and symptoms of nearly 35 types of cancers.

The e-books in English and Tamil can be downloaded on to smartphones and tablets, and contain symptoms, detection methods and treatment modalities in detail, SRIOR Director Dr P Guhan told reporters on the sidelines of the launch.

Claimed to be the first of its kind in the world, the e-books have a lot of features like diagrammatic representation of various procedures and methods, like self breast examination, which make it easy for the common man to understand, he said.

This can also create a wave of awareness amongst the general public especially youngsters who access digital media a lot and are the face of the nation, Guhan said.

SRIOR has in the last four years launched various applications to create awareness about cancer, like toll free number for tobacco users, tobacco patient counselling, toll free number for breast cancer and recently the wrist band pen drive for the benefit of women on breast cancer.

The e-books can be downloaded from the Google Play store by searching for Cancer Awareness SRIOR, Guhan said.

SRIOR, in addition to this and as part of World Cancer Day today, also announced a month long prostate screening program which has both modalities of screening — serological and imaging, totally free for cost, Guhan said.

Meanwhile, Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital, which has state-of-the-art equipment for both laparoscopic and robotic surgeries for cancer, launched a signature campaign to create awareness about prevention of cancer.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) S Saravanan inaugurated the campaign.