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Understanding the biology of diseases and, on this basis, developing more accurate drugs have made bad cancer treatments more effective, less aggressive and prolong the life expectancy of patients, said Efe. expert Ricardo Álvarez
On the occasion of the celebration of the Roche Press Day, the director of the Cancer Research Center in America explained that having understood genomic diseases has affected the last 15 years. "We have managed to develop drugs that allow us to act faster, with more precise, more directed, less toxic, shorter treatments and in bad cancer we have seen a decrease in mortality" he has explained.
He added that this translates into thousands of patients who may have a longer life expectancy.
c Breast cancer is most common among Latin American women and its incidence is increasing in the region.
In 2012, an estimated 152,000 new cases were diagnosed and if this trend continues, more than 240,000 women are expected to be diagnosed by 2030, an increase of 57 percent.
The specialist explained that about 20 years ago there was knowledge of the genome and its processes in the body, but they failed to apply this knowledge to patients. "We continued to treat patients in the same way despite a greater knowledge of biology," said the expert at Roche Press Day, an educational forum for communicators in Latin America .
Álvarez said that with the development of white therapies, the treatment for patients is more directed which "allows to act faster, with more precision, less toxicity and with a treatment shorter "
He added that chemotherapy, one of the most common cancer treatments for 50 years, was" like shooting a gun in the air at night, but now targeted therapies are much more precise and attack only the malignant cells. "
Daniel Ciriano, Medical Director of Roche Pharma Latin America, explains that thanks to bad cancer research, it has been understood that not all tumors are identical which leads to more personalized treatments. [19659002] "There are tumors that have a type of receptor called HER2 positive, these are particularly aggressive and today we have specific agents targeting this type of tumor," says Ciriano.
The specialist explained that HER2 All five women
He indicated that, in the case of bad cancer, there are patients who have tumors with positive hormone receptors, which makes them more aggressive and grow.
"In the case of bad cancer, there is a receptor called HER2 positive that affects one in five women," he said.
However, new treatments have succeeded in blocking these hormone receptors. which increased the remission (control) of the disease by up to 20%.
"Today we can not talk about healing, but when we see that it has been possible to increase the rate of remission for so long, we are getting a better quality of life. It's a hope, "he said.
However, Ciriano admitted that one of the main challenges remains the timely diagnosis" because nothing replaces prevention or early treatment. "
Ricardo Álvarez agreed that diagnosis is important However, early in the region, there is still a lack of education of medical staff and patients.
"We need education . People should know that they must go to the doctor when they are healthy. "
According to the specialist, a late diagnosis considerably reduces the chances of survival of the patient.
It is estimated that between 30 and 40 years old Breast cancer is diagnosed in advanced metastatic stage in Latin America
To reduce cancer mortality rates, patients should be made accountable for health and governments should guarantee social policies for screening and testing to gain access to new drugs
According to the World Organization of health (WHO), bad cancer screening programs must reach 70% of the target population to make a difference.
Countries in Latin America that have available data are not close to this objective
In Colombia, for example, this figure is between 32 and 46%, while in Mexico only "The problem is that in the region we have not had any policies when policies change, it also completely changes the health system in the countries, "he lamented.
He pointed out that the fight against cancer will not work in two or three years and to have positive results, it is essential to invest time, effort and resources, both economic and human.
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