RAWALPINDI: National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) has won grant of over Rs 7 million from the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for conducting research into identifying “biomarkers” for detection of cancer at an early stage in Pakistani population.
This was stated by Asma Saleem Qazi, Assistant Professor (Molecular Pathology) Department of Biological Sciences (DBS) NUMS, whose research proposal was selected by HEC through a competitive process held across the country under the National Research Programme for Universities (NRPU). This research project will last for three years, she added.
The “development of diagnostic panel for early-stage cancer detection” project will gather samples from the Pakistani population which would help in early diagnosis of cancer. Currently, “cancer among patients in the country is detected when it is already spread and the chances of their survival are very low”, she said.
According to WHO, the number of overall new cancer patients in Pakistan in 2020 stood at 178,338, among them 88,015 were males and 90,373 were females.
Dr Asma said the majority of females were affected by breast cancer while males were mostly afflicted by lip and oral cancer. There were “various causes behind cancer including smoking, using different types of ‘paans’ (betel leaves), and air and water pollutants, she added.
Meanwhile, NUMS and the Malaysian University College Sedaya International (UCSI) are also collaborating to study the anti-cancer potential of certain hemisynthesized derivatives or plant extracts in treating cancer.
Under the “Research excellence and innovation grant”, UCSI is funding the project which is a recognition of NUMS research potential, said Dr. Asma. She and her team in collaboration with Malaysian scientist Dr. Lionel In LianAun and his team have jointly developed the project.
Giving details of the project, she said. “It revolves around studying anticancer potential and preclinical assessments of certain plants and /or hemisynthesized derivatives in different solid tumors and cancers. Based on some data available, these extracts and derivatives possess anti-cancer potential. Yet, still, some more research is required to reach a conclusion in this regard.”
Dr. Aisha Mohyuddin, Dean Multidisciplinary Studies NUMS, emphasized the importance of cancer research in the Pakistani patient population. There is a lack of reliable epidemiologic data of our patients that is an impediment to developing informed evidence-based strategies for cancer prevention and treatment, she said.
She added that NUMS was committed to conducting good quality cancer research in various areas, including natural product research, nanomedicine and genetics, which would “ultimately benefit our patient population”.
Dr. Asma said many common factors in Pakistan and Malaysia were among the causes of cancer in both the countries which also motivated them into a joint research venture. According to the global cancer observatory, mouth and lip cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, colon and colorectal cancer prevalence is quite high in both collaborating countries.
