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Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women, being responsible for about 25 percent of cancers that they might be diagnosed with and around 458,500 deaths all over the world.
There have been many attempts to find an effective treatment for this form of cancer and is seems that day has finally arrived. Apparently, two generic drugs can reduce the death rate associated with the tumor significantly.
A team of researchers from Oxford University in the UK have recently carried out a research which aims to prove that a combination of two affordable drugs can have a positive impact on the patient’s battle with the disease and prevent the tumor from recurring.
During the first study, the researchers looked at data collected from about 30,000 post-menopausal women from nine trials. They soon noticed that endocrine treatments containing aromatase inhibitors led to higher chances of survival after five years. These chances were much better than the ones the patients had after undergoing the treatment based on tamoxifen.
More precisely, when the two treatments were compared, it was revealed that the death rate was 15 percent lower, while the chances of recurrence decreased by 33 percent after the patients started the new treatment.
However, if compared to women who did not benefit from any type of treatment, the death rate for the new drug was 40 percent lower.
The second study looked at the effects of other drugs, called biphosphonates. These are usually used for the treatment of bone-weakening diseases, such as osteoporosis. Surprisingly enough, they proved to be very effective in decreasing the death rates of cancer patients after two years.
According to the researchers, these two drugs, which are inexpensive and thus, affordable, are complementary. A combination of the two could increase the survival rate by 40 percent.
However, the best thing about them is that they are both effective and affordable. Nowadays, it is estimated that a breast cancer patient needs to spend more than $ 25,000 for treatment every year.
Luckily, the new combination can help them cut down on costs and prolong their life, by diminishing the chances or recurrence after the tumor has been removed.
Image Source: telegraph.co.uk
