Trials at Tata Memorial

The Tata Memorial Hospital which is part of the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) treats 64,000 new cancer patients every year, the highest number in the world, while "in the US, the largest institutes cater to close to 30,000 patients in a year,” Dr Rajendra Badwe, TMC director informed Daily News and Analysis (DNA) on June 19, 2014. And this is done without compromising on either ethical standards or clinical research. For this achievement, TMC has been recognized by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP), a US based agency that assesses health institutes for the quality of service they provide to human subjects during clinical trials, mentions the newspaper.

Dr Rajendra Badwe and the Tata Memorial Centre of which he is director

TMC, which is autonomously run under the Department of Atomic Energy, is the only government-run medical institute in India to have high ethical standards for clinical trials, states Badwe. About 4,000 patients are currently involved in these trials. "Some landmark research has emerged out of these trials which involved introduction of low cost centennial node biopsy, cervical cancer screening methods using acetic acid or vinegar, effective breast cancer treatment options, etc,” Badwe told DNA. Additionally, trials to reduce costs are being conducted. "We are looking at feasibility studies for re-purposing of those drugs which are used in other ailments for cancer treatment,” Badwe mentioned, in the hope that this will reduce costs.
Patients are enrolled for trials only after obtaining their consent, doctors confirmed to DNA. Also, they may opt out later, if they so desire. "We focus on counseling. If a patient is in an unconscious stage during the trial, consent is obtained from his relatives.” But when such patients regain consciousness, they have to be re-counseled and asked for their consent for continuing with the trial, head of the department of anesthesiology, Dr J. Divatia informed DNA.