Pharmaceutical giant, Roche Nigeria, has set an ambitious target to improve survival rates from the current 50 per cent to 80 per cent within the next five years.
General Manager of Roche Nigeria, Dr Ladi Hameed, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday during the Roche Breast Cancer Summit 2025, held in Lagos.
The summit had as its theme, “United by Unique: Advancing Breast Cancer Care in Nigeria.”
Hammed said the aim was to change the devastating narrative of breast cancer in Nigeria.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), breast cancer is a disease in which abnormal breast cells grow out of control and form tumours.
If left unchecked, the tumours can spread throughout the body and become fatal.
Breast cancer cells begin inside the milk ducts and/or the milk-producing lobules of the breast.
The earliest form (in situ) is not life-threatening and can be detected in early stages. Cancer cells can spread into nearby breast tissue (invasion).
This creates tumours that cause lumps or thickening. Invasive cancers can spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs (metastasize). Metastasis can be life-threatening and fatal.
According to Hameed, currently, no fewer than five out of every ten breast cancer patients die within five years—a stark statistic that the company aims to dramatically transform.
NAN reports that by 2028, Roche’s Africa Breast Cancer Ambition, localised to Nigerian Breast Cancer Ambition, seeks to flip this grim reality, targeting a future where eight out of 10 patients survive, turning what has long been a death sentence into a manageable chronic condition.
“For breast cancer, the outcomes of patients have not been very good in Nigeria.
“From the data, out of every two breast cancer patients, if it is possible, more than one of them will die, after five years; we say out of every 10, we lose five. The data for Nigeria is actually more than five.
“Within five years, more than five of them will die.
“We want that to change such that eight out of 10 of them will survive after five years.
“That is the aim of the Nigerian breast cancer ambition that we created, that we change the story from this more than five dying within five years to more than eight surviving within five years’’.
He explained that a lot of research and drug development in certain specific cancers had been conducted by the company.
He said that they were able to see that certain molecular diagnosis and specific and personalised healthcare approach to treatment were able to give really improved outcomes to patients.
“This is such that patients can now live longer and better lives, and you can change cancer from being a death sentence to a chronic disease.
“And hopefully, ultimately, maybe after a couple of years more, research will show that, yes, can cancer be cured? That may be a possibility.’’
Hameed noted that some strategies toward achieving this ambition would include improving early detection and screening, providing accurate and personalised diagnosis as well as offering financial support through Cancer Health Fund.
He also said it would involve increasing patient navigation to right treatment centres as well as collaborations from government agencies and NGOs.
“Breast cancer diagnosis is not a one size fits all. When you diagnose a woman with breast cancer, you are also able to diagnose what type of biomarkers she has, that will require a specific type of treatment.
“ You don’t use one set of drugs for 10 different women. Every woman may need specialised care. So the diagnosis needs to be accurate. So we are trying to ensure that.
“We are also ensuring that the treatment she receives is one she has financial support for, because no one can fight breast cancer alone — the financial burden is massive,” he said.
“If we do these things right, the incidence rate may not change, but mortality will improve significantly.
“The cause may remain, but at least more people will survive, live longer, and become advocates, saying, ‘I survived 20 years ago and I’m still doing well.’”
“People will stop being afraid to go for screening. They will come forward earlier,” he added.
NAN recalls that Roche Pharmaceuticals recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government to address breast cancer, the leading cancer affecting women in Nigeria.
The partnership, known as the African Breast Cancer Initiative, brings together resources from the federal government, the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment, WHO, and Roche.
The initiative aims to promote early diagnosis, strengthen research, enhance treatment options, and improve palliative care for breast cancer patients.
