400 a year will benefit from drug ruling

MORE than 400 women a year are to benefit from a revolutionary breast cancer drug approved for the NHS in Scotland yesterday.

Perjeta can treat patients in the early stages of the disease by helping to shrink tumours, making surgery less invasive. It can even make surgery an option for previously inoperable cancers.

However, campaigners called for Scotland to be brought into line with England, where women with terminal cancer are also given the drug to prolong their lives. Perjeta for early stage cancer was approved by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC). It can be taken alongside chemotherapy drugs before surgery.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said: ‘The real test for this drug is still to come. It stands to make the greatest difference for those with incurable “secondary” breast cancer – and yet it is still not routinely available in Scotland for that purpose.’

She said the drug could offer women with incurable cancer nearly 16 extra months of life on average.

Perjeta costs around £20,000 per patient. A decision on using the drug for those with incurable cancer is due next year.

SMC chairman Dr Alan MacDonald said: ‘We know that a diagnosis of breast cancer can be devastating.’

The SMC also approved Ocrelizumab for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.