Experts say early detection vital for breast cancer cure

Secunderabad: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among Indian females with age adjusted rate as high as 25.8 per 100,000 women and mortality 12.7 per 100,000 women. There are multiple reasons for late detection including lack of awareness, shyness on part of patients, social stigma, and ignorance at primary and secondary health care level. Early detection is best choice for reducing mortality.

In India, burden of breast cancer is increasing due to various factors and more young women reported diagnosed at advanced stage. An early diagnosis and treating identified patients with appropriate medical management improves the treatment outcome and quality of life and decrease the burden for the patient and the dependent. Current innovative treatment options offer to extend the life of advanced breast cancer patients with acceptable quality of life.

There were stressed at the Telangana Regional Round Table meeting on Breast Cancer organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Friday. Dr Dinesh Pendharkar, President of Indian Society of Oncology said that cancer units at district level were working in 7 states already and would be initiated soon in Telangana.

Uma Aysola, IWN-Telangana & Head of Alliances & Partnerships at Access Health International Inc, was hopeful of a novel collaborative model of combating this deadly disease by including all the relevant stakeholders in the healthcare system.

Dr Netagani Jayalatha, Director of MNJ Institute of Oncology Regional Cancer, mentioned that incidence of early breast cancer was increasing by 2 per cent every year. Only 2.4 percent of all breast cancer cases reported at Regional Cancer Centres (RCCs) were of stage I. More than 50% of the cases are reported at an advanced stage.

Prabhat Kumar Sinha, Head Patient Advocacy, Policy and Communication Novartis, mentioned that Novartis was working with 7 states for public Health Initiatives through formal MoUs and was committed to improving health outcome for breast cancer patients.

The objective of the state round table was to capture insights and suggestions from various stakeholders at state level and collate it along with some of the good practices in form of a white paper. The stakeholders included government representatives, medical colleges, hospitals, academia and civil society organisations.