Human health is an under-researched field. We are in 2022, still there is not enough research regarding women’s bodies and health outcomes. The big research centres did not include females having child-bearing potential from clinical trials from 1977 through 1993, in researches where even mice were included. The most common reason cited was that female and male bodies were generally the same but the hormonal fluctuations that happen in females further complicates the entire procedure. Researchers also emphasised that experimenting on reproductive-age females would hurt their fertility. If it sounds unusual, women were just treated as baby-producing machines back then. However, the scenario is changing and India is tracing its roots. The scientists on the soil have dedicated almost 11 years to contain the menace of Breast cancer.
Anaesthesia: A life saviour for Breast Cancer patients
As per the research of Tata Memorial Centre, a simple intervention of local anaesthesia (0.5 % lidocaine) as an anti-cancer agent just before the breast cancer surgery has significantly lowered the risk of death and recurrence by around 30%. The new invention would cost less than Rs 100, somewhere between Rs40- Rs70 and requires no additional expertise.
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The invention will surely shock the reader. In the process they used local anaesthesia injection for its anti-cancer properties before the surgery and not for numbing the pain. Just before taking the patient for surgery, the patient is on general anaesthesia is injected with this local anaesthesia, which makes tumour less sensitive to what is happening in the vicinity of the micro-environment of the tumour. The local anaesthesia puts the tumour to sleep to ensure the cancer cells don’t communicate with each other or escape. The restriction of movement of cancer cells, thus reduces the chances of recurrence and metastasis process (the process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body).
Numbers indicate the menace of Breast cancer
Breast Cancer, one of the most commonly occurring cancers in Indian women, claims one life in every eight minutes. In every 4-minute, one woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in India. In the year 2018, 1,62,428 women were newly detected with breast cancer and 87,090 women died from the same, the second highest in the world for that year. In the same year, 27 per cent of all the new cancers detected in women in India were breast cancers.
India being home to a predominantly young population, finds itself at a high risk of Breast cancer. Can Breast cancer be prevented? The straightforward answer is No! Breast cancer cannot be prevented. However, the deaths due to this can surely be reduced. And Tata hospital has stepped into the same direction.
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Tata’s single invention gives hope to thousands
The clinical trial conducted at the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) has proved with its invention that working in the field of female health care is not a tough task. The new invention is set to increase the cure and survival rate among breast cancer patients.
The study titled, ‘Effect of Peritumoral Infiltration of Local Anaesthetic Prior to Surgery on Survival in Early Breast Cancer’ was conceived and designed by Dr Rajendra Badwe, the Director of TMC, the principal investigator. The trail is a randomised controlled trial, conducted at 11 cancer centres over an 11-year period between 2011 and 2022. The study included 1,600 women in early breast cancer stages who opted for surgery.
Breast Cancer is the commonest malignancy among women globally. It has progressed from being the fourth in the list of most common cancers in India during the 1990s to now the first. And the current invention is set to revolutionise the women’s healthcare sector. The new invention is set to increase the survival rate among breast cancer patients.
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