17,000 more NHS patients could get breast cancer drug

A BREAST cancer drug has been found to lengthen survival time for more women, raising the prospect of its use being extended for 17,000 patients on the NHS.

Enhertu, manufactured by Astrazeneca, is available to about 400 women in England with advanced breast cancer, and previous trials showed it reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 72 per cent. Experts have identified a new subset of breast cancer patients – representing 16,800 women in the UK – who would also benefit from the treatment.

The drug is used for patients with metastatic breast cancer, meaning it has spread, and who are classed as Her2positive – a type of protein that helps cancer cells to grow and survive. About 35,000 people are living with metastatic breast cancer in the UK.

Dr Susan Galbraith, head of oncology research and development at Astrazeneca, said the drug could be available on the NHS by next year. She said the firm had asked the regulatory body Nice to review the drug for the new cohort of patients.