NEW DELHI: Advanced and new therapies for breast cancer are now allowing doctors and patients to save treatment time by up to 70-90 per cent. With Phesgo - a more recent treatment in breast cancer launched recently in India - oncologists in leading hospitals are witnessing the freeing capacity to treat more patients across the cancer centres considering the overall cancer burden.
The treatment cost of breast cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer among women in India, has also gone down by up to 20 per cent, said experts.
As October is observed as breast cancer awareness month, eminent experts stressed that India had come a long way in treating breast cancer, if detected early, due to advanced technology and medicines, with the survival rate going up.
“Breast cancer has emerged as the number one cancer among women in India. It has surpassed even cervix cancer. Over 1.8 lakh breast cancer cases are reported in India annually,” said Dr Shyam Aggarwal, Senior Consultant, Surgical Oncology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
As there is less awareness about breast cancer, it is detected at an advanced stage, putting India behind compared to the western world, where early breast cancer detection is widespread.
“Over the years, we have made tremendous progress in managing breast cancer. Earlier, we used to talk about radical surgeries like removing the entire breast. We are not talking about that in many patients because of early detection.”
There is a paradigm shift, and doctors are now conserving a lot of breasts, an essential organ for a woman. He added that newer therapies have become critical in the management not only in advanced stages but even in the early stages.
Dr Pragya Shukla, Head of Department and Assistant Professor (Clinical Oncology) at Delhi State Cancer Institute, said over 1,000 patients visit their OPD daily.
Talking about how new therapies have helped them treat cancer patients, she said, “We provide Phesgo free in our centre where the poorest of the poor come for treatment. Such expensive drugs were not included in government set-ups earlier, but we provide them. This expensive molecule is required because every life matters.”
She said the medicine administration frees up time for everyone - from patients, caregivers, doctors and paramedical staff. “We are happy that such a drug has come, which has reduced the time, and this helps us provide treatment to a larger number of patients.”
Swiss multinational drug maker Roche launched the drug earlier this year. It is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies administered by a single injection, thus significantly reducing the treatment time by up to 90 percent. The drug combines Perjeta and Herceptin with hyaluronidase and reduces the treatment cost by 20 per cent. It costs Rs. 2.8 lakh per dose
“Cancer is curable; it is not a death sentence,” she added.
Describing cancer as a silent epidemic, Dr Sajjan Rajpurohit, Director of Medical Oncology, BLK Max Hospital, said Phesgo is administered safely by the bedside in just 2-4 hours, which would earlier take two to three days and the patient had to get admitted.
Dr Meenu Walia, Senior Director, Department of Medical Oncology, Max Super Speciality Hospital, said better diagnostics modalities, technologies, and newer therapies has improved the treatment of breast cancer patients in India.
“There was a time when all breast cancer patients were treated the same way. Now, there are many new therapies. Gone are the days when just chemo or hormonal therapies were available. Today we have advanced medicines and improved technologies which give targeted medicines that have made a lot of difference.
“We have seen that a lot of patients in advanced stages of cancer live for years altogether because of these therapies,” she said.
"We are detecting more cases of breast cancer now because lifestyles are changing. We eat junk food, we don’t walk or do physical exercise, and our diet is not healthy, and also it is hereditary. Breast self-examination is the best way to detect breast cancer." Dr Walia added.
Lifestyle problems
Phesgo is a new fixed-dose subcutaneous (SC) formulation that combines Perjeta (pertuzumab) and Herceptin (trastuzumab).
It is administered under the skin in one injection just under the skin of the thigh
It is the world's first fixed-dose combination of two monoclonal antibodies in Oncology
More than 400 breast cancer patients across the country are using Phesgo now
It provides a faster, more convenient, and less invasive means to receive breast cancer therapy
As per World Health Organisation, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 6.85 lakh deaths globally in 20209.
While 90-95 per cent of breast cancer is due to lifestyle problems, 5 to 10 per cent is because of hereditary
Breast cancer has ranked number one cancer among Indian females, with a mortality rate of 12.7 / per 100,000 women.
India sees more triple-negative breast cancer, which tends to grow and spread faster, has fewer treatment options, and tends to have a worse prognosis
Around 20 percent of all breast cancers are HER2+ve. It is considered to be more aggressive