About 25 percent of JPMC cancer patients leave treatment unfinished because they cannot pay to continue, doctors in Karachi said at the close of Breastcon 2026. Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre provides surgery and radiotherapy free of charge, but newer immunotherapies, drugs that engage the immune system, and targeted therapies, drugs aimed at a particular feature of the cancer, remain too expensive for many families, and help with the bill does not always come in time, according to Business Recorder and ProPakistani.
What a full course can cost
Dr Ghulam Haider, head of oncology at the hospital, estimated complete cancer care at Rs3 million to Rs4 million. The estimate covers surgery, radiotherapy, medicines and injections. That overall figure is what he offered on the cancer treatment cost in Pakistan. Business Recorder also reported that managing complications from chemotherapy can require extra medicines and medical services, which raises the bill further.
He said some patients go home once their money runs out and come back months later with larger tumours. Those interruptions make successful treatment less likely. He called for permanent government assistance so patients can finish care. Business Recorder said he made that appeal on Sunday, the closing day of the two-day conference JPMC organised.
Philanthropists, charities and Zakat, the obligatory Islamic alms, already support cancer care at the hospital, he said, but the help is not always there. When medicine supplies or funds run short, treatment breaks and outcomes suffer. Reliance on donations alone, he said, is not enough.
Delays in breast cancer care
Dr Saima Zahoor, assistant professor of medical oncology at JPMC, said more than 60 percent of breast cancer patients face delays in diagnosis or treatment. Social pressure, fear, misconceptions and cost all contribute, she said. Some women avoid a doctor after finding a lump because of embarrassment. Others fear a biopsy will spread the cancer, or they try alternative treatments and lose months before reaching a hospital.
Women who start treatment privately sometimes stop when they cannot afford medicines and chemotherapy, Dr Zahoor said. Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, a form that may be treated with medicines aimed at a specific target, can need expensive targeted drugs. Applying to Baitul Mal, a public welfare fund, or to a charity can hold care up even longer.
She urged women to consult a qualified doctor about unusual breast changes. Early diagnosis and timely treatment improve the chance of recovery, she said, and delay can let the disease advance.
Surgery, screening and hospital records
JPMC general surgeon Dr Syeda Zareen Raza said specialists decide whether chemotherapy or surgery should come first based on the cancer's stage and type. Removing the entire breast is not necessary in every case. Suitable patients can have breast conservation, which keeps most of the breast, or oncoplastic surgery, which reshapes it during the operation. Business Recorder reported that fear of appearance, hair loss and social attitudes can discourage treatment, while preserving the breast's shape can ease psychological distress.
Business Recorder also quoted other specialists at the meeting. Dr Najeeb Naimatullah of Shaukat Khanum Hospital said the cost can push families to borrow money or sell their homes. He called for organised screening, quality local and generic medicines, and choices that take a patient's finances into account. Dr Sana Zeeshan of the Aga Khan University Hospital asked for a national breast cancer registry pooling records from public, private and charitable hospitals, so data on stage, treatment, recurrence and survival can show gaps and guide research.
Chief guest Dr Tariq Rafi, chairman of the Sindh Higher Education Commission, urged stronger screening, cooperation between institutions and more medical research. He said the commission could support researchers with funding it already has.
For JPMC cancer patients, free surgery and radiotherapy still leave newer medicines as the point where care often stops. Both accounts record Dr Haider's request for lasting government assistance.
