New drug offers hope to breast cancer patients of beating illness
FIONA MACGREGOR
THOUSANDS of breast cancer patients across Scotland are to be offered a new treatment that reduces the chances of the disease returning by 75 per cent.
The drug, Arimidex, which has been licensed for wider use from today, has been found to be 26 per cent more effective in preventing cancer returning than the current most commonly used treatment, Tamoxifen.
Breast cancer charities and doctors today hailed the new licence as "exciting news", with up to 2,500 postmenopausal Scottish women a year expected to benefit.
Arimidex, which has previously only been licensed for use when conventional treatments were inappropriate, can now be offered to women whose breast cancer is fuelled by oestrogen - which happens in around three quarters of all postmenopausal cases.
The drug, which will be prescribed to women immediately after breast surgery, has fewer side effects than Tamoxifen and is expected to eventually replace it.
However NHS Scotland will have to wait up to three months for the Scottish Medicine Consortium to decide whether the treatment is made routinely available.
Professor John Toy, the medical director at Cancer Research UK, said: "Research is showing that anastrozole [the generic name for Arimidex] is even more effective than Tamoxifen in reducing the risk of breast cancer coming back after initial treatment.
"Until now, the drug has only been available to women who can't take Tamoxifen for specific health reasons, such as a high risk of blood clots.
"This extension to the licence means that more women are now eligible for anastrozole.
"However, it's important for women to discuss their treatment options with their doctor and in the meantime they should not stop taking their current treatment."
Latest figures from Cancer Research UK show that 3,500 women in Scotland develop breast cancer every year, resulting in more than 1,100 deaths per year.
Following the biggest trial of its kind, involving 9,300 women with breast cancer over five years, Arimidex was found to reduce the reoccurrence of breast cancer in the second breast by 53 per cent and cut by 16 per cent the risk of cancer returning anywhere in the body.
Those treated with Arimidex also suffered fewer of the serious side effects associated with Tamoxifen including blood clots, stroke and cancer of the womb lining as well as symptoms such as hot flushes and vaginal discharge.
Rob Carpenter, a consultant surgical oncologist at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, said: "This news marks the beginning of a whole new era in breast cancer management."
Emma Pennery, a nurse specialist and consultant with the charity Breast Cancer Care, said: "This is exciting news."
The new drug will cost the NHS £2.56 per patient, per day, compared to just 7p for Tamoxifen, but a spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive denied the cost difference could lead to patients missing out.
"Where new drugs offer significant benefits to patients, NHS Boards are required to make these available to patients where there is a clinical need," she said.
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