Dr. Ram Charith Alva

Sr. Consultant - Radiation Oncology

MBBS, MD, DNB, FUICC (USA)

Speciality

Radiation Oncology

Hospital

Aster CMI Bangalore, Aster Whitefield Bangalore

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Overview

Dr. Ram Alva is a Senior Consultant Radiation Oncologist with over 14 years of experience. He provides all-inclusive tertiary referral services of radiation therapy for adult or paediatric patients having malignant & benign(non-cancerous) conditions. He has keen interest in brachytherapy(internal radiation) as well as stereotactic radiation therapy procedures, which entails delivery of precisely focussed highly conformal radiotherapy directly to the tumours.

Dr. Ram Alva graduated from a prestigious institute in India where he completed his postgraduate MD training in 2009. Following this he worked as a specialist in Manipal Hospital, a premier tertiary care institution in Bangalore, wherein he improved his skills associated with his field. Later, he joined Ramaiah hospitals, a leading medical teaching institution in the country to fortify his profile as an academician, researcher as well as and astute clinician. During this period, he also completed his speciality training with a short stint at the world-renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, USA. Not only has he trained under and worked with many internationally renowned experts specifically in the field of Radiation Oncology, but has also keenly interacted and developed his knowledge in close-quarter discussions and debates with the best minds across all specialities of oncology.

He has been a Senior Consultant clinician in Bangalore since 2013, who has mentored, trained & guided students & younger colleagues and also worked closely with his seniors and contemporary experts to jointly tackle the menace of cancer. He has conducted & presented at many academic forums and has also trained professionals from across India and Asia in the nuanced skills required for this speciality. He is known to provide ethical and up-to-date scientific-based treatment, as evidenced by numerous patient testimonials.

Area of expertise

All adults and children with malignant disorders need radiation therapy in conjunction with other oncology-directed therapies
Non-malignant (benign) disorders – specifically those having a locally aggressive recurrence pattern such as brain & spine tumours including adenomas, schwannomas, hemangiomas & meningiomas as well as musculoskeletal, skin, connective tissue & vascular tumours/disorders
Brachytherapy(Internal radiation) procedures in gynaecological, head/neck, skin, soft tissue, esophageal, hepato-biliary & urological tumours
Stereotactic focussed short-course high-dose radiation therapy protocols in brain/spinal tumours, lung/mediastinal tumours, upper GI tumours, urological as well as part of recurrent tumour processes
Magna-field irradiation protocols such as hemi-body & sub-total lymphoid procedures, including total body irradiation process as part of the transplant(BMT) protocols.

Awards and recognitions

Ram Alva has been awarded the union for international cancer control(UICC) technical fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, USA in 2018. He is well known in the academic field, with over 25 publications in reputed international medical journals indexed by Scopus/PubMed. In addition, he has been recognised and appreciated for his efforts in training and educating many radiation oncologists from India & abroad in the processes of brachytherapy as well as in conducting innovative learning intensive programs such as the world’s first cadaveric brachytherapy workshops in gynaecological, prostate and head/neck cancers.

Membership

He is an active member of many professional bodies including Association of Radiation Oncologists of India, Indian Medical Association, Indian Society of Neuro-Oncology and the Indian College of Radiation Oncology. He has also been a member of various online oncology societies such as ASTRO, ESTRO and ESMO groups.

Papers Published

Below is his list of over 25 publications in Radiation Oncology

Kannan R A, M G Janaki, T R Arul Ponni, A S Kirthi Koushik, S Mohan Kumar, Alva Ram Charith, Harjani Ritika, S Arvind. Analysis of Late Radiation Proctitis Among Patients Treated for Cervical Cancer: A Comparative Study Between Linear Accelerator and Cobalt Teletherapy. December 2013. Volume 6, Issues 1-2, Pages 46–49. Clinical Ovarian and other Gynecological Cancers
Mohan S Kumar, Murali Subramanyan, S Nirmala, M G Janaki, Nalini Kilara, Arul Ponni, Kirthi Koushik, Ram Charith Alva, Vinayak Maka. Skin Reactions And Treatment Interruptions With Concurrent Weekly Paclitaxel - A Prospective Study In Ca Breast Patients. Asia-Pacific Journal Of Clinical Oncology 10:232-233 · December 2014
Arvind Murthy, Janaki Manur , Arul Ponni, Kirthi Koushik , Ram Alva , Mohan Somashekar , Ram Kannan , Ritika Harjani. A case of endometrial carcinoma with age-related hyperkyphosis was treated with definitive radiotherapy. International Journal of Cancer Therapy and Oncology 12/2014; 3(1):03016
Ritika R Harjani, Manur G Janaki, S Mohankumar, T R Arul Ponni, Ram C Alva, A S Kirthi Koushik, K Ram Abhinav, S Arvind. Feasibility of Concurrent Chemoradiation in Cervical Cancer Patients From Rural Background. Clinical Ovarian and Other Gynecologic Cancer 01/2015; 30(1-2)
Kannan R A, Nambiar V, Koushik K, Alva Ram Charith, Muniyappa U. Nasopharyngeal adenoid cystic carcinoma - case report and review of the literature. J Case Rep Onc Ther 2015; 1(1):1119
Kannan R A, Janaki Manur Gururajachar, Arul Ponni, Kirthi Koushik, Mohan Kumar, Ram Charith Alva, Ritika Harjani, Arvind Murthy. Comparison of manual and inverse optimisation techniques in high dose rate intracavitary brachytherapy of cervical cancer: A dosimetric study. Reports of Practical Oncology and Radiotherapy. September–October 2015. Volume 20, Issue 5, Pages 365–369
Harjani R R, Janaki M G, Krishnaswamy U M, Alva Ram Charith, Ponni A, Koushik K, Somashekar M K, Kannan R A, Murthy A S. Epworth Sleepiness Scale- a novel tool to assess somnolence syndrome post radiotherapy to brain. Int J Cancer Ther Oncol 2015; 3(1)
Sathyamurthy A, Koushik A S, Gowri M, Janaki M G, Kilara N, Ponni T R, Alva R C, Kumar S M, Kannan R A, Harjani R. Impact of molecular predictors on the response rates of head and neck cancer patients - an observational study. Indian J Surg Oncol. 2016 Dec;7(4):380-385
Ram Charith Alva, Kirthi Koushik Agrahara Sreenivasa, Janaki Manur Gururajachar, Arul Ponni Thiru Raju, Mohan S Kumar, Ramesh S Bilimagga, Gurunath Kilara, Harish Krishnamachar, Satish Chandramouli. The nuances of brachytherapy taught by teachers from beyond: Questionnaire-based assessment of the first cadaveric hands-on brachytherapy workshop in India. Brachytherapy 2016; 15; Pg 593-97
A S Kirthi Koushik, Ram Alva, M G Janaki and Arul Ponni. Angular Variation of Applicators in LDR-ICBT. J of Analytical Oncology. 2017; Vol 6(1); Pg : 23-29
A S Kirthi Koushik and Ram Alva. Brachytherapy in Head and Neck Cancer: A Forgotten Art or a Skill to be Remembered!! J of Analytical Oncology. 2017; Vol 6(1); Pg - 14-22
Krishnamachar Harish, Ram Charith Alva, Kirthi Koushik A S. Novel Training methods for the new age oncologist. Clinics in Oncology. 2017; Vol 2; 1283
A S Kirthi Koushik and Ram Charith Alva. Brachytherapy in Head and Neck Cancers: “Are We Doing It or Are We Done with It”. Ind J Surg Oncology. 2018 Jun;9(2):171-174
K S Rishi, R C Alva, A R Kadam, S Sharma. Outcomes of Computed Tomography-Guided Image-Based Interstitial Brachytherapy for Cancer of the Cervix Using GEC-ESTRO Guidelines. Ind J Surg Oncology. 2018 Jun; 9(2): 181-186
Kirthi Koushik A S, Sandeep K S, Rahul D L, Alva R C. Molecular Marker as a Prognostic Indicator in Head and Neck Cancer Patients. Indian J Surg Oncol. 2019 Mar;10(1):162-166. doi: 10.1007/s13193-018-0838-3
Kumar M, Thangaraj R, Alva R C, Koushik K, Ponni A, Achar JM. Impact of different dose prescription schedules on EQD2 in high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy of carcinoma cervix. J Contemp Brachytherapy. 2019 Apr;11(2):189-193. doi: 10.5114/jcb.2019.84586
Kirthi Koushik A S, Sandeep K S, Janaki M G, Alva R C, Madabhavi I V. Tolerance of Radical Radiotherapy Among Elderly Head and Neck Cancer Patients. Indian J Surg Oncol. 2020 Jun;11(2):204-211. doi: 10.1007/s13193-019-01024-2
Alva R C, Koushik A S, Sweta B, Janaki M G, Ponni T R A, Kumar M, Yuvaraj B, Revath T Brachytherapy for Oral Cavity Cancers in the Era of Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy: Save it or Shelve it. Indian J Surg Oncol. 2020 Sep;11(3):406-411. doi: 10.1007/s13193-020-01075-w
Kumar M, Thangaraj R, Alva R C, Koushik K, Ponni A, Janaki M G. Interstitial high-dose-rate brachytherapy using cobalt-60 source for cervical cancer: dosimetric and clinical outcomes from a single institute. J Contemp Brachytherapy. 2020 Aug;12(4):351-355. doi: 10.5114/jcb.2020.98114
Manur Gururajachar J, Thangaraj R, Thiruraju A P, Agrahara Srinivasa K K, Charith Alva R, Somashekhar Kumar M. One thousand cases of cobalt-based high dose rate brachytherapy treated at a tertiary care center: A retrospective study. Brachytherapy. 2020 Jul-Aug;19(4):457-461. doi: 10.1016/j.brachy.2020.03.005
Manur J G, Srinivas K K, Alva R C. Are we radiation avid for head-and-neck cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic?. Cancer Research, Statistics, and Treatment. 2020 Oct 1;3(4):849
Srinivas K K, Alva R C, Manur J G. Can a pandemic put a spanner in the radiotherapy workflow process?. Cancer Research, Statistics, and Treatment. 2020 Oct 1;3(4):846
Alva R C, Manur J G, Srinivas K K. Beauty of radiotherapy is not just skin deep! Cancer Research, Statistics, and Treatment. 2020 Oct 1;3(4):882
Revathy T, Vidyasagar N, Gururajachar J M, Thiruraj A P, Koushik A K, Alva R C, Kumar S M. Equivalent dose in 2 Gy (EQD2) to pelvic lymph nodes using volume based prescription for three brachytherapy applicators - a dosimetric retrospective analysis. Rep Pract Oncol Radiother. 2021 Jun 9;26(3):408-415. doi: 10.5603/RPOR.a2021.0047. PMID: 34277094; PMCID: PMC8281908
Jyoti M, Koushik A S K, Ram Alva. Role of adjuvant radiotherapy in adrenocortical carcinoma. Int J of Innov Sc and Research Tech. 2021 Jan; 6(1): 1763-66. ISSN No:-2456-2165
Nambiar V, Koushik K, & Alva R C(2022). Comparison of Thermoplastic Cast Versus Knee Wedge/Foot Rest Immobilization Technique in the Treatment of Carcinoma Cervix with Conformal Radiation Therapy.Journal of Analytical Oncology 11, 63–69.

Book Chapters

Koushik AK, Alva RC. Radiotherapy in Oral Cancers: Current Perspective and Future Directions. InOral Cancer-Current Concepts and Future Perspectives 2021 Aug 16. IntechOpen.