Cancer Research Foundation of Pakistan (CRFP) executive-director and former principal of Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore, Professor Dr Khalida Usmani presented her research work for the past 10 years about the use of EM-X in the management of breast cancer at the EM Technology Conference & Festa held at Chiemsee Island, Bavaria, Germany.
World-renowned discoverer and developer of this natural pro-biotic technology "Effective Micro-organism" EM Technology Professor Dr Heruo Higa of Japan and scientists from Asia, Europe and the USA also attended the conference.
It may be recalled that EM-X has been used in medical research in over 50 countries for the past two decades for ailments from asthma to allergies to breast cancer, demonstrating beneficial effect in all cases, besides its application in agriculture and livestock sectors, environment protection and industrial waste treatment.
Lahore-based Professor Usmani, who is one of the country's top surgeons and a specialist of breast cancer disease, found oral use of EM-X, beneficial for human consumption.
Professor Usmani said first phase of the study was conducted from 1997 to 1999 for a period of 30 months; second phase from 1999 to 2001 and third phase from 2001 to 2006 at the Cancer Research Foundation of Pakistan, Lahore.
She said patients were divided into four groups, including (a) patients with local disease confined to breast, (b) patients with metastatic disease after the conventional standard treatment, (c) patients with inoperable cancer due to locally advanced ca, and with or without secondaries, and (d) patients receiving conventional mode of treatment but no EM-X.
She noted a well-marked difference in patients, who were given EM-X from day one after operation or if diagnosed, a few days before the operation. She said EM-X works as an exogenous antioxidant helps the defensive mechanism as an immune modulator and it helps the body in scavenging free radicals from blood stream and help NK cell by enhancing their number and functional capacity.
Professor Usmani, who has been conducting research on breast cancer for the past 25 years, said this disease is the most common cancer among women in Pakistan. It is almost 35 percent of all cancers occurring in the female population. Patients included in the study were between the age of 20-75 years. Majority of the patients was between the age of 35 to 45 years. They were mostly premenopausal, 23 percent pregnant or lactating and 97 percent multiparous; average number of children were 5.
She said a large number of patients came because of encouraging results of the treatment seen by the general practitioners and mass media programme for awareness of women about prevention and early diagnosis of the cancer.
She said patients, who were started on EM-X immediately after the diagnosis, did not complain of postoperative pain, were up within 24 hours with minimum discomfort. Their vitality came back within a week and they were emotionally stable. They were discharged from the hospital on the 4th or 5th postoperative day.
Professor Usmani said none of these patients developed metastases even though 75 percent were T3N2 patients. They were given 10ml of EM-X per day during this period of chemo. Emotional stability was remarkable. Not a single patient required anti-depressants. Their appetite was good; there were no pygogenic or fungal infection in any patient. They started doing the normal house-hold chores within 3-4 weeks.
Conclusion: In her conclusion, Professor Usmani said EM-X has a definite role in improving the survival of cancer patients when combined with standard treatment, ie, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy followed by hormone therapy depending upon the receptor status.
She said it definitely improved survival length; quality of life is better in those receiving EM-X, emotional stability, appetite and symptom of pain and breathlessness improved in patients with metastases or advanced carcinoma; disease became static as seen on investigations life X-ray bone scan and CT scan; patients, who were not given EM-X showed a marked deterioration and they succumbed to the disease earlier, and disease-free survival is longer in patients for an average of 8.5 years as compared to those who were not given EM-X, whose length of survival was an average of 3-5 years.