Targeted drugs more effective to lung cancer treatment

New Delhi, May 30 (UNI) Targeted drugs like Tarceva and Iressa, which act by attacking abnormal genes in people suffering from lung cancer, have emerged as a new ray of hope for millions of people suffering from lung cancer which causes a death every 30 seconds globally, according to experts.

However, these targeted drugs needed to be developed further as they have proved more effective among Asian women lung cancer patients suffering from Adenocarcinoma. These drugs have been found to be limited in use for Caucasian population and men suffering from lung cancer, according to Dr Shyam Agarwal, Head of the Department of Medical Oncology, Sir Gangaram Hospital.

Talking to UNI on the eve of International Lung Cancer Day, he said the major challenge in the field of lung cancer was developing the targeted drugs for men as lung cancer was more prevalent among them than women. He said that gene therapy and targeted medicine were the emerging fields of oncology research which could give relief to people in future.

He said in India about 120 cancer cases per one lakh population were detected every year of which 10 per cent to 12 per cent were suffering from lung cancer. A more recent study has indicated that there were more than 90,000 men and 79,000 women diagnosed each year in India with lung and bronchi cancer. It is one of the commonest cancers in males and basic causes were smoking and pollution and the disease affect women in India mostly due to passive smoking. It is estimated that in Delhi there are more lung cancer cases than any other city of the country due to higher level of pollution.

Dr Agarwal said lung cancer was more dangerous as it was often detected very late when the disease had already spread. The treatment and cure was possible if the lung cancer was detected at the primary stage but once the disease had spread, it was difficult to treat. In the primary stage, doctors remove the tumor by operation and in 60 per cent case the patient was cured but in 40 per cent case there was a chance of relapse.

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