Breast cancer hope from new ‘Trojan horse’ drug

ADVANCED breast cancer patients could be given a year or more of extra healthy life by a ‘Trojan horse’ treatment that destroys tumour cells from the inside out.

The medicine – Trodelvy – has already been hailed a game-changer by doubling survival rates in women with rare and hard-to-treat triple-negative breast cancer.

Now a major new trial has shown it could work just as well in patients with a more common type of breast cancer – HR-positive HER2-negative – which accounts for 70 per cent of cases, meaning thousands more women could benefit.

The women in the study all had advanced disease that had failed to respond to other treatments and had spread to other parts of the body. In many cases, Trodelvy held the cancer at bay for a year.

‘There is a serious unmet need for these patients, who have been through chemotherapy already and have no options left,’ said American cancer specialist Dr Jane Lowe Meisel yesterday. Discussing the study’s findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, she added: ‘If one of these patients walks into a clinic, with this drug you’ll essentially be able to offer them a one-in-five chance of their cancer not progressing in a year. That is huge.’

Trodelvy uses artificial antibodies, similar to those naturally produced by the immune system, which carry a chemotherapy medicine. They attach to cancer cells and then deliver their chemo payload directly into tumours.

The findings of the latest study on the drug – also known as sacituzumab govitecan-hziy – will renew hope that NHS spending body, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), will authorise its use in the UK after previously rejecting it.

The Mail on Sunday has learned NICE will meet on Tuesday to restart negotiations with US manufacturer Gilead over the £40,000-ayear per patient price tag.

Jo Taylor, founder of After Breast Cancer Diagnosis and patient advocacy group Met Up UK, welcomed the move: ‘NICE’s decision to reject Trodelvy was a huge disappointment. I have friends who are desperate to access this drug, and considering how quickly the disease progresses, even a two-week delay is too much. These people need it immediately.

‘I hope NICE comes to its senses and approves the drug. These women really need it to extend their lives.’

Professor Nick Turner, a breast cancer expert at the Institute for Cancer Research in London, said: ‘It’s not a cure but it can extend their lives, buying patients more time with their family and friends.’