Globally, breast cancer is the most deadly cancer in women in less developed regions and the second deadliest in the more developed regions. HER-2 positive breast cancer accounts for 20-25 percent of all breast cancer cases diagnosed in the US, according to a report by the NCI.
In 2014, the US registered 232,670 and 2,360 new breast cancer cases in women and men, respectively. In addition, breast cancer caused 40,000 and 430 deaths in women and men, respectively, in the US in 2014. In 2012, the age-standardized incidence rate of breast cancer was 43.30 percent and the mortality rate was 12.90 percent. The number of breast cancer cases is expected to reach 1,985,272 by 2020 with an estimated growth rate of 18.40 percent.
This increase is expected to result in a rise in the number of people opting for treatment, causing a surge in growth for the HER-2 Positive Breast Cancer Market in the US at a CAGR of 12.65 percent from 2014-2019.
Thankfully, these positive market trends are expected to help fuel market growth and in turn, help improve patient outcomes:
Increase in Awareness
Breast cancer awareness programs attempt to raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with the disease by educating about the symptoms and treatment. Awareness and screening programs can help diagnose potential cases of breast cancer, which otherwise remain undetected till late stages.
Organizations such as the National Breast Cancer Foundation observes October as the Breast Cancer Awareness month each year with the “pink ribbon” as the most prominent symbol. The American Breast Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization, provides financial assistance for the diagnosis and screening of the disease. Breastcancer.org is another organization whose mission is to help patients by supporting them with updated information about breast cancer.
Emergence of Targeted and Combination Therapies
Targeted therapies cause less side effects than conventional chemotherapies. Drugs that target HER-2 receptors such as Herceptin and Kadcyla can be administered as monotherapy or in combination. Cancer involves the disruption of multiple mechanisms, therefore, combination therapies which target distinct mechanisms are highly efficacious in treating cancer. Targeting multiple pathways might also reduce the risk of developing treatment-resistant cancers.
Increase in Incidence of Breast Cancer in Developed Regions
Developed countries have higher incidences of breast cancer rates than developing countries. For instance, according to the GLOBOCAN project 2012, there were 233,000 new cases of breast cancer in North America compared to 99,000 cases in the WHO Africa region. Factors such as environmental, hereditary, and demographic variations play a major role in this difference of incidence rates.
