In recent decades, we have observed the treatment of Cancer take new directions. The development of tests, molecules, therapies and combinations between them has made it possible to personalize the fight against the disease, bringing new perspectives to patients and clinical practice.
In this context, “Oral chemotherapy” it is one of the main advances in medicine to treat different types of tumors. The name is used to simplify the term “targeted oral therapy for the treatment of cancer”: these are drugs that work at specific points on the cancer cell and inhibit its growth, and are used mainly in the form of pills.
When we talk about breast cancerIt is important to note that this is already the most common type of cancer in the world in women. In Brazil, the challenges begin with the difficulties of early diagnosisAbout 35% of patients discover cancer in the most advanced stages, when the disease can affect other organs and the chances of a cure are reduced.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, then the scenario tends to get worse. In 2020, the realization of mammograms of tracking and diagnostics had a 45% drop in the public network and, in 2021, this figure already reached 50%. An enormous repressed demand for diagnosis and treatment should be observed in the post-pandemic, in an even more challenging scenario for health systems.
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This scenario is also reflected in the challenges to access new therapies. For almost two decades there have been no relevant updates available to the population to address the metastatic breast cancer more common, the so-called luminal breast cancer, whose main characteristic is the presence of hormone receptors and the absence of the HER-2 protein in tumor cells. It is the most common type today and represents seven out of ten cases.
The main innovations to deal with this type of disease are already available at private system Brazilian, but not in the public network, reflecting a huge disparity in access to treatment for women without health insurance.
Currently, a window of opportunity is opening for the contribution of civil society to the incorporation of new therapies for advanced breast cancer in the THEIR, a fundamental step to achieve greater survival and, above all, quality of life for these patients.
And everyone can get involved in this fight: Conitec (National Commission for the Incorporation of Technologies in the SUS) carries out a public consultation for the incorporation of an innovative therapeutic class focused on the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic luminal breast cancer, the cyclin inhibitors, medicines that work by preventing the multiplication of diseased cells.
To contribute to a permanent consultation, it is necessary to access the Conitec website, consult the available lists and the procedures provided by each one. Doctors, other health professionals, patients and the general population can participate in this process. At the center of the discussion is access to more modern and effective treatments. – and the lives of so many Brazilian women.
* Antonio Carlos Buzaid is an oncologist, medical director of the BP Oncology Center – A Beneficência Portuguesa in São Paulo and co-founder of the Vencer o Câncer Institute.
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