Karachi: Extremely expensive medicines are making breast cancer treatment unaffordable for most patients in Pakistan, while late diagnosis remains the biggest hurdle in saving their lives, leading cancer specialists warned on Saturday.
They said patients face difficulties in arranging medicines and completing treatment even after diagnosis. High prices of cancer drugs, problems in their availability and unnecessary official hurdles need to be addressed to improve patients’ chances of recovery, they added.
They were speaking at BreastCon 2026, a two-day conference organised by the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) at a local hotel during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The conference focuses on improving breast cancer treatment in countries with limited health facilities and financial resources.
Prof Dr Tariq Mahmood, head of CyberKnife and Tomotherapy at JPMC, said Pakistan has qualified and trained surgeons for breast cancer surgery, but costly medicines remain a serious problem.
Patients also face delays in getting chemotherapy, radiotherapy and necessary tests, he added.
He pointed out that some cancer medicines are available at lower prices in India and other countries but are sold at higher prices in Pakistan.
He said he has asked pharmaceutical companies to make these medicines available at affordable prices for Pakistani patients.
Prof Tariq Mahmood said official rules and bureaucratic hurdles also create difficulties in ensuring the availability of quality medicines at reasonable prices. The relevant authorities should remove unnecessary obstacles and facilitate pharmaceutical companies so that patients can get cheaper medicines, he stressed.
Pakistani companies are already exporting medicines to different countries, he said, adding that there is potential to produce quality medicines at affordable prices locally. The increasing cost of immunotherapy has added to the problems of patients who already struggle to meet treatment expenses, he said.
He said JPMC provides breast cancer surgery and chemotherapy, while several medicines are arranged through the hospital’s budget and support from different organisations. However, patients have to seek financial assistance from other sources for some expensive medicines, he added.
Prof Tariq Mahmood said a new breast radiotherapy facility at JPMC would have capacity to treat 160 patients daily, taking the hospital’s overall radiotherapy capacity to around 400 patients a day. The service would be free, he said, asking doctors to refer patients who cannot afford private treatment.
The senior radiation oncologist said modern techniques can help reduce unnecessary radiation exposure to the heart, while selected patients with early breast cancer can receive five radiotherapy sessions over one week after surgery. Patients from 24 countries and 183 Pakistani cities have benefited from the centre’s cancer services, he added.
Conference organiser Dr Syeda Zarreen Raza of JPMC said the main question is how to follow established treatment guidelines when resources are limited. She said this is the fourth consecutive conference organised through JPMC to bring surgeons, cancer specialists and other doctors together to improve treatment.
She said regular meetings of specialists from different departments, digital patient records and an improved breast clinic are among the measures being worked on at JPMC. Research and discussions at the conference should help doctors find practical solutions to the problems faced by patients, she added.
JPMC Executive Director Prof Dr Khalid Sher said modern cancer treatment should also be available to patients who cannot afford it. People facing financial difficulties must benefit from advances in treatment, he said, stressing that available resources should be used to help the maximum number of patients.
He said awareness, appropriate screening and early diagnosis are essential for saving lives. Surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, nurses and other health professionals should jointly decide the best treatment for each patient, he added.
Prof Dr Rufina Soomro, a breast surgeon at Liaquat National Hospital, urged women to get themselves examined and seek timely medical advice. She said treatment costs depend on the disease and medicines required, while early diagnosis can help prevent complications.
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Saqib Farooqui, a representative of PharmEvo, said the company has introduced modern cancer medicines, including pembrolizumab and other monoclonal antibodies. He said the aim is to improve treatment outcomes and the quality of life of cancer patients.
Pakistan recorded an estimated 43,721 new breast cancer cases and 20,039 deaths from the disease in 2024, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Breast cancer accounted for 44 percent of new cancers among women.
Other speakers on the opening-day programme included Dr M. Nouman Zahir of Ziauddin Hospital; Dr Sadaf Jafferbhoy of University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, UK; and Dr Sehrish Abrar of SIUT, among others.