Last Updated on November 22, 2021 by The Health Master
The World Health Organisation (WHO) mentions cancer as the leading cause of mortality across the world, with around 1.93 crore new cancer cases every year.
While this data is from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which collates information gathered from 183 countries, not all countries have centralised cancer statistics that represent the real numbers.
The top cancer on the list: Therefore, it’s safe to assume that the numbers could be much more than what has been identified globally. Of these cancers, breast cancer topped the list for women, while lung cancer topped the list for men.
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death, with an estimated 18 lakh deaths globally.
India: In India, around 13.2 lakh new cancer cases are found every year. The total number of lung cancer cases in 2020 is approximately 72.5K, and the majority of these were men.
Main cause: The leading causes of lung cancer are smoking and certain occupational hazards like exposure to radiation, chemical factories without proper protection gear, to mention a few.
Symptoms: The symptoms include difficulty breathing, coughing up blood, pain in the chest, fluid accumulation in the chest area, etc.
Preventions: Therefore, the most successful way to prevent the disease is to stop smoking, avoid second-hand smoke, avoid pollution through preventive measures like masks, prevent occupational hazards by using appropriate safety gear, etc.
Though multiple awareness communication from the government and private bodies related to the prevention of smoking has been ongoing, the habit has been on an uptick.
Reason: The main reason behind the higher death rate in such males is due to late identification of the disease, resulting in a lack of options to manage the disease.
Diagnosis: Diagnosis for lung cancer includes X-rays, CT Scans to provide insights into small lump growths or cuts in the lungs. In case of such mass or lesions are identified, a tissue biopsy is the next step that can confirm if the patient has cancer.
Management: The management of lung cancer has seen significant improvement over the last three decades, with the patient’s life expectancy going from less than six months to around ten years.
Treatment: The usual treatment procedure in the case of cancer includes radiation therapy, surgical removal of the affected section, chemotherapy, mostly in combination depending on the stage of the disease.
The latest that medicine has to offer to manage lung cancer includes personalised precision treatment based on the genetic profile of the patient.
Genes: This has shown success in around 60% of the patients in whom the cancer-specific genes could be identified, and the treatment is modified to suit the patient.
However, a precise diagnosis requires advanced technology, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a powerful approach in recent clinical practice. Whole exome sequencing (WES) identifies alterations within the cancer genome, especially in our coding regions prone to mutations.
Alterations in the genome: Since alterations in the genome are sometimes related to tumor progression, WES remains an advanced solution to detect cancer predispositions, mutations associated with disease progression that facilitates access to targeted therapies.
Extensive collaborative genome-wide association studies have identified common gene variants involved in lung cancer has been identified as three separate loci, namely 5p15, 6p21, and 15q25.
In specific studies in India, it has been observed that patients that carry cancer genes show a three-fold increase in the incidence of cancer.
The most significant risk for LC (OR = 3.2; 95% CI: 0.7-3.8) was found in the association of the homozygous variant of the CYP1A1 gene.
Precision medicine: Precision medicine and personalised treatment have come a long way to tackle such cases with positive results.
An example of precision treatment in such cases with drugs like Gefitinib in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations induces dramatic clinical responses in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). Such drugs can specifically target cells that have the EGFR mutation and destroy them while the remaining cells remain unaffected.
This significantly reduces the cost of treatment and the side effect profile from multiple cycles of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Today, with the availability of an Indian genetic profile based gene panel that supports the identification of different types of cancer mutations, precision treatment of conditions like lung cancer can get easier access and faster turnaround time for results.
While the advancement of medicine and science has taken a leap in the right direction in the management of lung cancer in India, the best approach is and will always remain ‘prevention’.
Therefore, it is always important to ensure that one must always go for regular health checkups and stop habits like smoking that result in detrimental effects on the health of the individual.
by Dr Niti Raizada, Director-Medical Oncology & Hemato Oncology, Fortis Group of Hospitals, Bangalore, talks about lung cancer management and the role of precision medicine.
CDSCO panel rejects Synokem Pharma’s application for oral Antidiabetic Drug
PLI schemes for Pharma and Medical Devices to make India secure
Zydus Cadila gets USFDA nod to market generic Cancer drug in…
Govt transfers AYUSH-64 drug technology to 46 Companies
Eli Lilly files litigation against 20 Indian Pharma Companies
Experts ask Govt to bring list of OTC Drugs
Retired FDA officials are promoting Generic Drugs in innovative ways
International Conference on National Education Policy will be held at …
Latest Notifications regarding Pharmaceuticals
For informative videos by The Health Master, click on the below YouTube icon:
For informative videos on Medical Store / Pharmacy, click on the below YouTube icon:
For informative videos on the news regarding Pharma / Medical Devices / Cosmetics / Homoeopathy etc., click on the below YouTube icon:
For informative videos on consumer awareness, click on the below YouTube icon:
