Frost & Sullivan Says, Innovative Therapies Needed to Deal With the Rapid Spread of Cancer...( LONDON Feb. 17 /- Cancer may well...),Health

LONDON, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Cancer may well surpass cardiovascular diseases as the primary case of death in Europe by 2012. To prevent this from happening, cancer therapeutics have to shift in focus from the treatment of symptoms to offering a total cure, despite the complex, multifactorial nature of cancer indications.

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"As cancer spreads rapidly through Europe, therapy developers are looking to improve the cancer treatment profile through technological advances in diagnosis and treatment," says an analyst from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.medicaldevices.frost.com). "Innovative approaches to cancer therapy will help address unmet medical needs as well as enable the prognosis of cancer indications."

Several cancer indications such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are associated with very high mortality rates. This shows that intense technological improvements are needed to enhance the prognosis and treatment of major cancer indications.

Treatment developers should aim to keep pace with the growing demand for therapies that can improve patients' quality of life.

"Treatments with fewer side effects and that can reduce hospital stays are preferred over radical procedures such as surgery, wherever feasible," the analyst notes. "An increasing demand for minimally invasive or non-invasive alternatives to existing treatments such as chemotherapy and surgery is driving the growth of radiation therapy -- particularly in developed countries."

The trend toward multimodality deals, along with digitisation and price erosion are expected to drive consolidation in the cancer therapy market. The healthcare market in Europe is cost constrained and the purs
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