Discovered! Treatment that destroys breast cancer within 11 days

Finally, there may be respite for over 27,000 Nigerians diagnosed with breast cancer annually. Scientists have discovered a new combination drug treatment that can destroy breast cancer tumours in 11 days. Those treated would be spared the agony of surgery and chemotherapy, the researchers assured. However, for now, the treatment applies to only those with HER2- positive breast cancer, a particularly rapidly aggressive form of the disease, with high occurrence in Nigeria.

Presenting their findings at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Amsterdam, the researchers described how combining the drugs Tykerb and Herceptin and giving them to newly-diagnosed sufferers, was able to make the tumours shrink significantly and disappeared. Professor Nigel Bundred, from the University of Manchester who presented the data, said: “This has ground breaking potential because it allows us to identify a group of patients who, within 11 days, have had their tumours disappeared with anti-HER2 therapy alone and who potentially may not require subsequent chemotherapy.

This offers the opportunity to tailor treatment for each individual woman.” The UK trial involved 257 women with newly diagnosed HER2-positive breast cancer. Around 15 to 25 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer have HER2, a total of 5,300 to 8,000 women a year. Trial co-leader Professor Judith Bliss, from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said it was unexpected to see quite such dramatic responses. She added: “Our results are a strong foundation on which to build further trials of combination antiHER2 therapies prior to surgery which could reduce the number of women who require subsequent chemotherapy, which is also very effective but can lead to long-term side effects.”

Professor Arnie Purushotham, senior clinical adviser at Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, said: “These results are very promising if they stand up in the long run and could be the starting step of finding a new way to treat HER2 positive breast cancers. “This could mean some women can avoid chemotherapy after their surgery, sparing them the side-effects.” At the moment, women usually have their tumour removed during surgery followed by a combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormonal therapies and targeted drugs such as Herceptin.

Meanwhile here in Nigeria, late presentation is the main reason breast cancer is killing many women. Most patients come to the hospital when the disease has already spread to lymph nodes or distant organs, an Associate Professor and consultant pathologist at LUTH, Dr Adetola Daramola, told National Mirror. “Metastasis (cancer spread) is the leading cause of mortality in patient diagnosed with breast cancer in Nigeria. Unlike in the developed countries where survival rate is 80 per cent, in Nigeria more and more women continue to lose their lives to breast cancer”, she said.

One of the reasons she gave, that makes women present late at hospital, is due to fear of mastectomy (surgical removal of breast). “But women need to know that these days, not all women diagnosed with breast cancer need to cut their breast. With the latest advancement in treatment, molecular testing can now be done to know the type of breast cancer a person has. If it is a hormone receptor positive cancer, hormone therapy can be administered. If it is HERS-2 positive, an aggressive type of breasts cancer that multiplies fast, HERS-2 positive therapy can be used with chemotherapy, so the patient can have better outcome unlike before when these drugs were not available”, she said.

But now, with this new treatment, the patient could even be spared chemotherapy, if she presents early. The oncologist explained that most breast cancer deaths are due to advanced cancers, diagnosed when the disease had already spread to lymph nodes or distant organs. Aside late presentation, lack of cancer facilities and breakdown of machines are worsening treatment. According to Prof. Ifeoma Okoye, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that countries should have at least One Radiotherapy Unit per One Million populations.

Unfortunately, Nigeria currently has about 10 radiotherapy machines in tertiary hospitals across the country. “These machines suffer from epileptic function; today they are functioning, tomorrow they have broken down. This has caused a lot of anguish and inconvenience to the patients and the incessant breakdowns also affect management and response adversely.

“Going by IAEA and WHO recommendation and assuming a conservative population of 160 million, Nigeria ought to have 160 Radiotherapy Units functioning efficiently in-country. If we look at other facilities for Cancer management, like CT Scan, we are also very deficient serving the entire population of 160 million people”, she said.