A decade-long study at the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai shows that cancer prevention and recurrence need not to be expensive always. The researchers have come up with a low-cost invention that could reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence by 30 per cent. The study was titled ‘Effect of Peri-Tumoral Infiltration of Local Anaesthetic Prior to Surgery on Survival in Early Breast Cancer’.
The scientists claim that a simple intervention of local anaesthesia (0.5 percent lidocaine) can work as an anti-cancer agent if administered before breast cancer surgery. It can effectively reduce the chance of recurrence by 29-30 per cent. You will be surprised to know that this anaesthesia injection will come at less than Rs. 100 for each patient. Unbelievable it may sound but true it is!
It is definitely a breakthrough in breast cancer treatment. Dr. Badwe, the Honourable Director, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, presented the reports of the clinical trials at European Society of Medical Oncology Congress in Paris last week. Sudeep Gupta, a professor at Tata Memorial Centre, have talked to the media in Mumbai to explain the new findings.
Breast Cancer Recurrence
The research and the result have received appreciations from the hospitals and nursing centres dedicated to the best breast cancer treatment in Kolkata. Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in women. It is also one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in women across the globe.
Recurrence is a big problem for any type of cancer. Oncologists prescribe nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor for ER+ and Herceptin for Her2+ breast cancer patients after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, to block the pathways of cancerous cells. However, cancer is very smart and over time, shows resistance to these drugs. When breast cancer comes back, it usually becomes metastatic, a condition though treatable but ultimately causing death to patients.
Recurrence may happen a few months, few years or even 20-25 years after the treatment for primary tumour ends.
This invention is believed to become a landmark in a breast cancer treatment in Kolkata and throughout the world.
Effective & Low-Cost
Researchers have repeatedly highlighted the ‘low-cost’ factor of their new invention while claiming that it can save up to 100, 000 lives globally every year. The intravenous injection will not require any additional expertise to use.
The study, which continued for 11 years from 2011-22, included 1, 600 women who were planning to undergo surgery for their early-stage breast cancer. For the first-time, this kind of study has been conducted and the result shows that the peri-operative intervention will help modify the environment, which helps cancer cells survive and grow, in a way that will prevent harmful reaction to the surgery. This invention is going to open up a new window to the onco-surgeons.
Cancer treatment is very expensive. The drugs prescribed to prevent recurrence in some types of breast cancer costs a hefty sum. Herceptin costs Rs. 75, 000/dose. Still, not all breast cancer patients get long-term benefits from these costly drugs. This invention will surely give hope to the breast cancer patients.