{"id":305762,"date":"2024-07-27T19:24:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-27T13:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=305762"},"modified":"2024-07-27T19:24:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-27T13:54:00","slug":"cheaper-cancer-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/cheaper-cancer-drugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheaper Cancer Drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source-<\/strong>This post on Cheaper Cancer Drugs <\/strong>has been created based on the article \u201cGovernment slashes prices for targeted cancer drugs: All you need to know<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201cThe Indian Express<\/strong>\u201d on 27 July 2024.<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus-GS Paper-2- <\/strong>Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector\/Services relating to Health, Education<\/p>\n

Context<\/strong>– The finance minister has in her budget speech announced customs duty exemptions for three cancer drugs-trastuzumab deruxtecan, osimertinib, and durvalumab. These drugs previously had a 10% duty. Approximately one lakh patients in India require trastuzumab deruxtecan, osimertinib, and durvalumab<\/p>\n

Cancer cases in India are rising, with 14.6 lakh new cases in 2022, up from 14.2 lakh in 2021. Cancer deaths also increased to 8.08 lakh in 2022. Women have a higher cancer incidence rate (103.6 per 100,000) compared to men (94.1). Common cancers for men include lung, mouth, and prostate, while for women, they are breast, cervix, and ovary.<\/p>\n

What are targeted cancer drugs?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1) Purpose<\/strong>: Attack only cancer cells, leaving normal cells unaffected.<\/p>\n

2) Function<\/strong>: Target specific genetic changes in cancer cells that promote growth, division, and spread.<\/p>\n

3) Advantages<\/strong>: Better outcomes and fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy, which affects all cells indiscriminately.<\/p>\n

4) Immunotherapy<\/strong>: -Trains the patient\u2019s immune system to identify and attack cancer cells, rather than targeting the cancer directly with drugs.<\/p>\n

How do these three drugs work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1) Trastuzumab deruxtecan-<\/strong><\/p>\n

A) It is an antibody-drug conjugate combining a lab-made protein with a drug. It treats cancers with the HER-2 receptor that have spread or cannot be surgically removed.<\/p>\n

B) It is a second-line treatment that is used when traditional therapies fail. It was approved for breast cancer in 2019 and for certain gastrointestinal cancers in 2021.<\/p>\n

C) It was the first drug in its class to receive \u201ctissue-agnostic approval\u201d from the FDA, meaning it can treat any cancer with the HER-2 receptor, regardless of its origin.<\/p>\n

D) Cost: The drug costs around Rs 1.6 lakh per vial.<\/p>\n

2) Osimertinib-<\/strong><\/p>\n

A) Usage:<\/strong> Most used cancer drug in India.<\/p>\n

B) Treatment<\/strong>: For lung cancers with epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR), involved in cancer development. It is effective for 25% to 30% of lung cancers in non-smoking women<\/p>\n

C) Function<\/strong>: Blocks EGFR receptors on cancer cells, stopping cancer growth.<\/p>\n

D) Application<\/strong>: Prescribed after surgery or as a first-line treatment for metastatic cancer. Can be used until it stops working or causes severe toxicity.<\/p>\n

E) Benefits<\/strong>: Extends patient survival by 4 to 5 years compared to other treatments.<\/p>\n

F) Cost<\/strong>– The drug is expensive, costing \u20b91.5 lakh for a strip of ten pills. It must be taken daily.<\/p>\n

3) Durvalumab-<\/strong><\/p>\n

A) Type<\/strong>: Immunotherapy treatment.<\/p>\n

B) Usage<\/strong>: Treats certain lung cancers, biliary tract cancers, bladder cancer, and liver cancer.<\/p>\n

C) Function<\/strong>: Binds to PD-L1 proteins on cancer cells, which helps the immune system recognize and kill these cells.<\/p>\n

D) Benefits<\/strong>: Studies show that patients on Durvalumab remain in remission longer and live longer.<\/p>\n

E) Cost<\/strong>: Sold as Imfinzi, it costs about \u20b91.5 lakh per 10ml vial.<\/p>\n

Read more-<\/strong> Union Budget 2024-25- Analysis<\/a><\/p>\n

What is the significance of the customs duty exemptions for three cancer drugs?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1) Financial Relief<\/strong>: The exemptions will reduce the financial burden on cancer patients and their families. It will make these drugs more accessible to Indian patients.<\/p>\n

2) Meet Additional Expenses:- <\/strong>A \u00a0\u20b912,000 price drop would allow for more spending on nutrition, protein supplements, and other expenses like tests and scans.<\/p>\n

3) Efficacy-<\/strong>They are targeted therapies that offer much better results than traditional therapies.<\/p>\n

Question for practice<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are targeted cancer therapies, and how do these three particular drugs work? What is the impact of customs duty exemptions on these three cancer drugs?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source-This post on Cheaper Cancer Drugs has been created based on the article \u201cGovernment slashes prices for targeted cancer drugs: All you need to know\u201d published in \u201cThe Indian Express\u201d on 27 July 2024. UPSC Syllabus-GS Paper-2- Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector\/Services relating to Health, Education Context– The finance minister has… Continue reading Cheaper Cancer Drugs<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,154],"tags":[212,10500,8131],"class_list":["post-305762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-social-issues","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-indian-express","tag-social-issues","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305762\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}