How big is the hope of breast cancer sufferers?

Wallahualam - Only God knows!
According to researchers, the life expectancy of breast cancer sufferers in Indonesia is currently relatively low, which is only around 24%. But of course this is for those who have entered into the category which in medical terms is called III-B.

Cancer surgeons at a meeting at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Bandung, some time ago announced their determination to boost it to 50%. The target is quite grandiose based on optimism for the emergence of an antibody drug called: trastuzumab.

From several studies, this drug is considered more effective than surgery and chemotherapy. Although there is no official data yet, it is stated that in this country breast cancer ranks second after cervical cancer. On average, it affects 10 out of 100,000 women. But in terms of killing, said Drajat Ryanto Suardi - a cancer surgeon at Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung - breast cancer is the number one devil for women.

Meanwhile at the world level, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 8% -9% of women worldwide will be attacked by this deadly disease every year. To be precise, the number of people with breast cancer willadded about 7 million cases. The latest survey shows, every three minutes a new case of breast cancer is found and every 11 minutes a woman dies from breast cancer.

Total general, according to WHO every year there are 700,000 women worldwide who die from this disease. In the United States about 175,000 new cases occur each year. Meanwhile, in mainland Europe, an average of 25,000 new patients appear per year. It is unclear how many men and how many women are among them. Ronald Hukom, a breast cancer expert from Dharmais Cancer Hospital, Slipi, West Jakarta, said that many men are not spared from breast cancer. According to him, one in a hundred patients is a man. Even the attacks are more ferocious and difficult to heal. To the best of her knowledge, none of the male patients had survived!

The sad thing is that many cancer patients seek for medical treatment too late. ''They come when the cancer is already severe, or has reached stages III and IV,'' he said at a press conference for Herceptin, which is the trastuzumab gene, at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Dago, Bandung. That means the cancer cells are malignant and have spread to other organs of the body. When it's severe, doctors usually only give chemotherapy treatment. Their life expectancy is getting shorter.

For example, Ronald explained about patients who entered the Dharmais Hospital in 1993-1996 - unfortunately he did not have the latest data - mentioned as many as 26 patients or 19.1% of breast cancer patients who came were at stage III-B where the cancer cells had spread to other organs of the body. Under these conditions, he estimates that the patient's five-year survival chance is only 20%. They could only survive for three years and three months. The other 24 patients came when they were still in stage II so that they had an 82% chance of survival for up to five years.

This condition contrasts with patients in developed countries. The level of consciousness is high. As soon as they found out there was an abnormality in their breasts, they immediately checked themselves. As many as 80% of cases of cancer patients who are brought to the doctor are still at an early stage. Not surprisingly, their life expectancy is higher. There are many reasons why Indonesian women with breast cancer seek treatment late. In the early stages, this cancer is usually not obvious to the eye. Especially if the lump is still about 2 cm. It won't be obvious. Usually they only seek treatment after the lump has grown to the size of a tennis ball. That means it has entered stage III. Another cause is due to economic factors. The patients are horrified to imagine the cost of treatment which is not small.

For the first stage alone, the patient must be charged with the cost of surgical removal of the tumor which can spend up to tens of millions of rupiah. After that they must undergo irradiation at the location around the removed organ. This irradiation is usually more than 15 times which is no less heavy draining the contents of the wallet. If it's not OK, the patient still has to undergo chemotherapy. The price of this chemotherapy drug just for one injection can reach Rp. 2 million more, not to mention the cost of services and medical treatment that accompanies it. While this chemotherapy must be done up to a dozen times. Another reason could also be because of fear, as happened to call her Ibu Ratih - not her real name.

When she was diagnosed with cancer in her right breast in 1983, this resident of Depok, West Java, only dared to do a mastectomy (breast lift). But he was afraid to undergo the process of irradiation and chemotherapy. "My mother prefers to do acupuncture at a clinic in Rawamangun," said her daughter Ajeng - also not her real name.

For a dozen years his cancer has been successfully ''put to sleep'' by the acupuncture treatments he routinely undergoes. However, after the acupuncturist died and his successor could not continue, Ibu Ratih began to panic. He tried various kinds of alternative medicine, including reiki. He also diligently consumes turmeric which is said to be able to eradicate tumor cells and still survive against modern medicine.

Then came an unfortunate incident: his house was burglarized. Tens of grams of gold from his savings were also sold out by thieves. Unfortunately, this happened not long after he retired from his position as headmaster of a junior high school in South Jakarta. "Since then, a lump started to grow in her left breast," said Ajeng. “His body is now emaciated and his appetite is gone. The road must be paved. His soul began to waver and very irritable. If I don't visit every weekend, he will be very angry!'' said Ajeng sadly.

The fear of undergoing modern therapy is justified. Radiation irradiation has the side effect of damaging normal cells in the irradiated area. Sufferers will feel severe nausea during treatment. Likewise with chemotherapy. The negative consequences can make you weak, prolonged dizziness, vomiting, canker sores, hair loss and many more.

Because chemotherapy works by first suppressing the patient's immune system, many patients actually become susceptible to various other diseases. Therefore close supervision from a doctor is very important. So it is natural that many patients try to avoid this painful therapy.

They start to look for therapies that are safer and have less side effects, such as antibody therapy or gene therapy. Pharmaceutical factories are starting to rush to hunt for new drugs, either buying research patents that have been made or developing their own research. The hunt has intensified following the expiration of a number of drug patents.

For example, Nolvadex, a tamoxifen breast cancer drug produced by Astra Zeneca Plc, London, England, has expired since February last year. Likewise, the breast and ovarian cancer drug carboplatin made by Bristol Myers-Squibb, United States of America. Also the patent will expire this year.

Indonesian drug manufacturers are not left behind in joining the hunt. Dexa Medica, for example, has even collaborated with Reddy's Laboratories, Hyderabad India. The cooperation was signed on July 1 last year in Jakarta. Ferry Sutikno, Managing Director of Dexa Medica Group, said that his party will manufacture seven types of cancer drugs, including breast, colon, lung and prostate cancers.

''Hopefully this year it can be produced, of course after the permit from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency is issued!'' he said to several journalists. When it is already in production, Ferry estimates that the cost of treatment, which was originally Rp. 40 million, can be reduced to around Rp. 5 million. If this is true, of course it's not only cheaper, but it must be more effective.

Source: Aries Kelana, Amalia K. Mala, Nurul Fitriyah (Surabaya) and Gatra Online