Health experts highlight equitable access to breast cancer treatment

Health experts in the Philippines highlighted the need for equitable access to breast cancer treatment. 

At an AstraZeneca forum in Makati City on Wednesday, oncologist Dr. Marvin Mendoza said that throughout the years, the medical industry has been able to develop targeted and accurate testing and treatment for breast cancer.

But attaining equitable access remains a challenge. 

Mendoza stated that breast cancer screening and treatment are costly and not easily available in rural areas.

“I think we can still do more… It’s really the cost. These tests are really costly, but there are access programs that can help,” he said.

ICanServe Foundation founding president Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala added that the government should avoid ambiguity in its medical assistance program.

According to her, there have been cases where offers, like free mammograms, weren't free or were only available under certain conditions.

“It’s really confusing for us to advocate. The good news is that there's help, but it’s really confusing how to access it,” she said.

Alikpala said that they are currently working with local governments to service patients from detection, treatment, survivorship care, and supportive care.

“You can survive breast cancer, especially when diagnosed early. You can live longer with a stage 4 diagnosis… There’s so much help medically available to them,” she said.

Pharmaceutical advancements

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is working toward the goal of eradicating breast cancer as a major cause of death through developing more accurate screening methods to be able to easily flag breast cancer.

“Science is not enough… We’ve been pioneering for the past several years precision diagnostics, and now we are moving to clinical pathology using artificial intelligence, and the purpose is to support accurate [and] timely diagnosis of breast cancer,” said AstraZeneca Philippines medical affairs director Cyril Tolosa.

The company cited efforts to develop biomarker testing and screening, which can help in identifying specific genes and proteins to detect cancer development.

Tolosa said that there is a need for collaboration between medical experts, patient groups, and other sectors to create a more efficient breast cancer management system, along with continuous developments in innovative medicine and pioneering science.

“Our portfolio builds on our evolving understanding of breast cancer by leveraging different mechanisms of breast cancer, different ways that breast cancer evolves in the body. And, by understanding these different mechanisms, we can create better targeted, more effective therapy,” he said.

According to the Global Cancer Observatory in 2022, breast cancer was the leading type of cancer that affected women in the Philippines.

Specifically, out of 105,912 female cancer patients, 33,079, or 31.2%, were diagnosed with breast cancer. —VBL, GMA Integrated News