Monday, 23 October 2023

Metropolis Healthcare's Comprehensive Study Reveals Key Insights into Breast Cancer Incidence & Prevalence.


·        Data analytics by Metropolis over a 7-year period involving 22,068 instances from Indian patients indicates a key finding: not all breast lumps are cancer.

·        The research also shows that men too can develop breast cancer.

·        It reemphasizes the value of early detection for timely treatment and overall patient survival.

National,  23rd October 2023: In its ongoing commitment to raise awareness about critical health issues, Metropolis Healthcare Limited, India’s leading diagnostic service provider, is dedicated to empowering individuals with knowledge and awareness when it comes to breast health. In commemoration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, celebrated worldwide every October, Metropolis unveils key data insights.

Breast cancer is a critical health concern affecting millions of women worldwide. While awareness about the disease has grown, there remains a lack of understanding regarding breast lumps and their association with cancer. The data study conducted by Metropolis Healthcare over a seven-year period involving 22,068 instances from Indian patients, indicates a key finding: not all breast tumours are malignant.

"At Metropolis, our commitment to healthcare extends beyond diagnostics. We have achieved significant milestones in cancer diagnosis and complex testing within the field of Oncology. Our aim is to empower patients and healthcare providers with the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions and raise awareness among the masses through such extensive research studies,” commented Mr. Surendran Chemmenkottil, CEO of Metropolis Healthcare Limited.

Early detection and accurate tissue diagnosis is pivotal in the battle against breast cancer. “Our analysis shows that of clinically palpable or radiologically screened cases, >50% breast lumps are non-cancerous on tissue diagnosis,” says Dr. Kirti Chadha, Chief Scientific Officer & Senior Oncopathologist, Metropolis Healthcare Limited.  Another positive data trend noted is that akin western statistics 72.15% Indian breast cancer patients are “Luminal A”, “Luminal B” or “Her2Neu subtype” with only 27.85% being “triple negative” provided the IHC and FISH are performed under strict quality guidelines by ASCO and CAP. This is excellent patient biomarker profiling enabling high proportion of patient cohort amenable to hormonal and targeted therapy & emphasizing predictive and prognostic biomarker assessment for all breast cancer cases.

Most cases of malignant breast tumours were seen in females. Surprisingly, 3.4% of instances were also observed in men. Pathologic Grading was used in malignant cases to determine the severity of the malignancy. The findings were instructive, with almost 58.75% of cases falling into lower grades 1 and 2, indicating slow growth and little propensity to spread. However, 40% of cases were grade 3 breast tumours, which have a quicker development rate and a higher chance of local & distant spread. 

Metropolis also conducted comprehensive testing for BRCA genes over a six-year period from 2017 to 2023. The results are compelling. Among the 1003 patients who underwent BRCA gene testing, 13.25% were found to have a pathogenic variant of the mutation and 59.4% cases of these were in BRCA1 followed by BRCA2 or a combination. Family history played a significant role in testing, 33.61% of patients had a family history of breast cancer and 37.74% had a family history of ovarian cancer. In 44.83% of patients, both breast and ovarian cancer family histories were present.

As an essential tool in the fight against breast cancer, early detection and accurate diagnosis with ancillary theranostic laboratory testing are aspects that Metropolis takes humble pride in. We believe that providing the right information and raising awareness, coupled with action, is essential to saving lives. By educating people about the significance of breast lumps and the insights revealed by BRCA gene testing, we empower individuals to make informed decisions about their health.

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