The use of local anaesthesia can improve the survival rate in breast cancer patients from 81 per cent to 86 per cent, an 11-year-long study led by doctors at Tata Memorial Hospital has shown. The research can potentially save about 1 lakh lives across the world a year, said doctors associated with the initiative on Monday. 

The study began in 2011 and included 1,600 breast cancer patients. It also involved doctors from 10 other cancer institutes. Of the women who took part in the study, 800 underwent surgery without the use of local anaesthesia, while the rest were given anaesthetics a few minutes before the operation.