Tata Memorial Centre, doctors from 11 institutes develop low-cost clinical intervention for cancer treatment

A clinical intervention, which involved the administration of an injection of a commonly used local anaesthetic agent, costing as low as Rs 100 has been developed by doctors at the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) to increase breast cancer cure and survival rates, the hospital said on Monday.

The study by a team from TMC, a premiere cancer institute under the Centre's Department of Atomic Energy, over a decade led to the development of the intervention with higher efficacy.

"The research has suggested there is a window of opportunity just prior to, during, and immediately after surgical removal of primary cancer when anti-cancer interventions could reduce the risk of development of disseminated stage-four metastatic cancer later in the lifespan of the patient," the hospital said.

The study, titled 'Effect of Peri-tumoral Infiltration of Local Anaesthetic Prior to Surgery on Survival in Early Breast Cancer', is a randomised controlled trial conceived and designed by Dr Rajendra Badwe, who is the principal investigator.

The study was conducted by investigators at 11 cancer centres in India including Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai over 11 years between 2011 and 2022.

"The results of this study show this simple, low-cost intervention significantly and substantially increases the cure rates and survival of breast cancer patients, with a benefit that is ongoing for several years after surgery.

"The injection requires no additional expertise, is inexpensive, and can result in saving up to 1,00,000 lives annually globally. These benefits are substantial and were achieved with an intervention the cost of which was less than Rs 100 per patient," the statement added.

The study included 1,600 women with early breast cancer who were planned to be treated with surgery.

Half of these patients (the control group) received standard surgery followed by standard postoperative treatment, including chemotherapy, hormone therapy and radiotherapy as per guidelines.

The other half, constituting the intervention group, received an injection of a commonly used local anaesthesia agent, 0.5 per cent lidocaine, all around the tumour, just before surgery.

They then underwent standard surgery followed by the same postoperative treatment as was given in the control group, it said.

The research has suggested there is a window of opportunity just before, during, and immediately after surgical removal of primary cancer when anti-cancer interventions could reduce the risk of development of disseminated stage four metastatic cancer later in the lifespan of the patient.

"Lignocaine, which is a commonly used, inexpensive, local anaesthesia drug, was thought to be one such suitable intervention because of its inhibitory effects on cancer cell division, movement and other anti-cancer properties," the hospital's statement informed.

After completion of treatment, patients were followed up regularly for several years to compare the rates of cure and survival between the control group and the local anaesthesia group.

After enough follow-up had happened in both groups, the data were analysed at a cut-off date of September 2021, the statement said.

"There was no toxicity of lignocaine in patients who received it. The six-year disease-free survival (cure rate) was 81.7 per cent in the control group and 86.1 per cent in the local anaesthesia group for a 26 per cent relative reduction in the risk of cancer relapse or death with the local anaesthesia injection, which was statistically significant," it said.

Similarly, the six-year overall survival was 86.2 per cent versus 89.9 per cent in the two groups for a 29 per cent reduction in the risk of death with the local anaesthetic injection, which was also statistically significant, the statement pointed out.

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