Survival of breast cancer patients can improve with low-cost intervention: study
The survival rates of breast cancer patients globally can improve with low-cost intervention of less than $1.3, according to clinical trial studies released by India's state-run Tata Memorial Centre on Monday.
An injection that has been commonly used as a local anesthesia agent, 0.5% lidocaine, all around the tumor on the operating table just prior to surgery requires no additional expertise and is inexpensive, and can result in saving up to 100,000 lives annually globally, the study said.
These findings were presented at the ongoing European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Paris, along with a simultaneous press conference held in Mumbai to announce the results of the trial.
"This is the first study of its kind globally that has shown a sizable benefit by single intervention prior to surgery. For scientists, it opens the window of peri-operative intervention to modulate the environment of cancer in such a way as to prevent its deleterious reaction to the act of surgery (observation)," said a statement by Tata Memorial Centre quoting its director, Rajendra Badwe.
Perioperative care or medicine is the practice of patient-centered, multidisciplinary, and integrated medical care of patients from the moment of contemplation of surgery until full recovery.
The study was conducted by investigators at 11 cancer care centers in India involving 1,600 women with early breast cancer over an 11-year period between 2011 and 2022.
