New drug could buy months of extra life for thousands of women with incurable breast cancer

A NEW drug could buy months of extra life for thousands of women with incurable breast cancer.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has approved NHS patients to get abemaciclib.

The charity Breast Cancer Now applauded the decision and said around 3,000 women could benefit.

The treatment can be used for those sufferers who have seen the disease return and spread to other parts of the body.

Studies have found abemaciclib, when combined with another drug called fulvestrant, can delay worse cases by 7.6 months on average, and even give nine extra months of life.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: “This is fantastic news.

“Following its worrying provisional rejection by NICE earlier this year, this decision now secures its future use on the NHS.

“It brings hope to eligible women who could see this combination treatment offer them precious extra months before their disease progresses and it could even help extend their lives.”

It is estimated 2,500 to 3,000 patients are living with the specific cancer the drug combo is designed for — and they could get it on the NHS.

The twice-a-day pills normally cost £2,950 for a pack of 56 but the NHS has struck a confidential deal to buy them cheaper.

Abemaciclib is an CDK4/6 inhibitor, slowing down the ability of cancer cells to multiply.

Meindert Boysen, a director at NICE, said: “Advanced breast cancer is an incurable condition and the aim of treatment is to delay it getting worse and extend survival.

“The committee heard that CDK4/6 inhibitors, such as abemaciclib, were welcomed by patients because they can delay the time before their cancer gets worse and so delay or avoid the need for chemotherapy.”