MSP backs call for life-extending cancer drug for Scottish women
‘Women in Scotland should be able to access the life-extending breast cancer drug Perjeta, Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron has argued.
Donald Cameron joined breast cancer patient and Perjeta Now campaigner Jen Hardy at Holyrood to support the charity’s petition calling for the manufacturer Roche, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) to make Perjeta routinely available on the NHS in Scotland.
Perjeta, taken in combination with Herceptin (trastuzumab) and docetaxel, a chemotherapy drug, is a first-line treatment for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. It gives patients with incurable breast cancer nearly 16 additional months of good-quality life, on average, compared to the alternative treatment of trastuzumab and docetaxel alone.
While it has been the standard of care in England for more than four years, Perjeta has been rejected three times by the SMC as it is not considered cost-effective.
The drug company intends to make a new application to the SMC for Perjeta to be used in Scotland.
Mr Cameron said: ‘It is a travesty that women with incurable breast cancer living in Scotland are still missing out on a life-changing drug.
‘The precious extra time Perjeta offers could mean the world to patients.’