Injection to cut breast cancer death rates

“The study revealed a four per cent non-significant improvement in disease free survival. And among the high risk group there is a 10 per cent reduction in recurrence and eight per cent reduction in mortality rate. This translates into 30 per cent relative reduction in deaths among those who would have otherwise died,” said Dr Indraneel Mittra of department of surgical oncology. The 65-month follow up on 1,000 breast cancer patients was presented at the 32nd San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in the US on Saturday by Dr R A Badwe,director,Tata Memorial Centre.

“With this treatment there was a clear benefit noted in not only preventing breast cancer recurrence but also in saving lives of women with early (stages of) breast cancer,” said Dr Mittra.

Explaining the procedure,he said,“The first half of the menstrual cycle under the influence of estrogen prepares the ovum to dislodge from the ovary and travel to the uterus for fertilisation. During its second half,progesterone levels in the blood rise to prevent more ova from dislodging. This process is akin to cancer tumors whereby cells from the primary tumor dislodge and move to distant organs. Therefore,the hypothesis (published in 1991) that progesterone treatment may also prevent spread of cancer became the premise of the study.”

In India,around 10,000 new cases are diagnosed a year and 40,000 breast cancer deaths are reported annually. It has the potential to save the lives of over one lakh women annually in the world,Dr Mittra said. “It appears to be the ideal low-cost treatment,” he added.