Doctors at Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) have discovered that adding a low-cost platinum-based drug, carboplatin, to standard chemotherapy significantly improves survival outcomes for young women battling triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) — one of the most aggressive and hard-to-treat forms of the disease.
Carboplatin: A Low-Cost Game Changer
The study found that an eight-week course of carboplatin, costing around ₹5,000, increased overall survival rates by 7.6% in TNBC patients. For women under 50 years of age, survival improved even more — by 12% to 13%, according to the study authors Dr. Sudeep Gupta and Dr. Rajendra Badwe.
TOI reported that researchers recently published the findings of a 10-year randomized phase 3 trial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a globally recognized peer-reviewed journal. This research marks another milestone in TMH’s ongoing efforts to identify affordable interventions that enhance cancer treatment outcomes.
Previous Low-Cost Innovations
Earlier, TMH researchers had reported that a single shot of progesterone before surgery and injecting lidocaine (a local anaesthetic) around the tumour site could also improve survival in breast cancer patients. The new carboplatin findings further strengthen the hospital’s mission of advancing cost-effective, evidence-based cancer care.
Landmark Results in Indian Context
“This landmark Indian trial settles a longstanding question in breast cancer treatment,” said Dr. Sudeep Gupta, Director of Tata Memorial Centre. He explained that adding carboplatin improved five-year survival rates from 66.8% to 74.4%, proving that a simple, affordable addition to chemotherapy can save more lives in this aggressive cancer subtype.
Large-Scale Clinical Study
The TMH team began the study in 2010, enrolling 720 women with triple-negative breast cancer, most of whom had stage III disease, indicating lymph node involvement. All participants received the standard chemotherapy regimen of paclitaxel, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide before surgery.
Half of the participants also received weekly carboplatin injections for eight weeks. After an average follow-up of 67 months, the data revealed that 74% of patients treated with carboplatin were alive after five years, compared to 67% without it.
“This means roughly seven more women out of every 100 are alive at five years because of carboplatin,” said Dr. Badwe, the study’s principal investigator and former Director of TMC.
Safe and Well-Tolerated Treatment
Importantly, Dr. Badwe emphasized that the addition of carboplatin did not lead to major side effects. “The treatment was well tolerated, with no significant increase in serious toxicity,” he noted.
Implications for Global Cancer Care
Dr. Badwe added that these findings demonstrate clinical efficiency and can be implemented worldwide without delay. He underlined that breast cancer remains India’s most common cancer, affecting about 1.8 lakh women annually, with 30% of TMH’s patients diagnosed with triple-negative disease, which carries a higher mortality rate than other types.
The study’s success reinforces the potential of low-cost, high-impact medical innovations to transform cancer care, particularly in developing nations where affordability often dictates access to treatment.