Life-prolonging drug for refractory breast cancer approved for use by NHS | Breast Cancer

Women with refractory advanced breast cancer will be able to get medicine from NHS Under the new guidance, it can potentially extend their lifespan by almost 8 months.

The· National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has approved the drug Ribociclib (aka Kiscali), a drug used daily by the NHS in England and Wales. About 3,300 women with advanced breast cancer may benefit from this decision each year.

Ribociclib, in combination with another drug, fulvestrant, is hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative, locally progressive or metastatic in women who have undergone endocrine therapy, according to Nice. Breast cancer can be treated. – Exemestane with everolimus – Otherwise it is considered to be the most appropriate treatment.

The combination of drugs can not only delay the progression of breast cancer and the time when patients need to start chemotherapy, but can also extend their lifespan, Nice said.

Breast cancer activists said Nice’s decision on ribociclib, taken as a once-daily tablet, provided some patients with a life expectancy prospect.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of the charity Breast Cancer Now, said:

“This innovative combination of drugs not only provides certain patients with refractory breast cancer with extra time with their loved ones, but also helps delay the need for chemotherapy and its debilitating side effects.”

about 55,200 people a year Diagnosed with breast cancer; mainly female, but includes 390 men. It kills 11,500 people a year (32 people a day), claiming to be the second largest murderer in women after lung cancer, more than any other cancer that affects women.

Nice’s decision was particularly welcomed given that it recently rejected a call to approve a similar treatment called abemaciclib when made in parallel with fulvestrant, Baroness Morgan added. ..

Clinical trials have shown that the combination of ribociclib and fulvestrant increases median progression-free survival by 5.5 months from 9.1 months to 14.6 months. Median overall survival also increased by 7.7 months from 32.5 months to 40.2 months.

However, Friday’s ruling made it available through medical services to anyone in need of it after it was shown evidence that it extended overall survival and proved to be worth the money. It means that it has become.

Ribociclib has been available since 2019 through the Cancer Drugs Fund, established in 2011 by the coalition government, and provides patients with access to unproven or cancer treatments. Nice’s ruling was made available through medical services to anyone in need of it after evidence showed that it extended overall survival and proved to be worth the money. It means that.

This drug is a so-called cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4 / 6) inhibitor. It works by destroying proteins in cancer cells, blocking cell division and growth. The tablets are taken with an aromatase inhibitor, an anticancer drug that prevents the production of the hormone estrogen, and prevents it from stimulating the growth of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Patients told Nice that CDK4 / 6 inhibitors are generally less toxic than chemotherapy.

Maindelt Boysen, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Nice, said:

“The initial decision to make ribociclib available through the CDF not only made it possible to access ribociclib faster than otherwise possible, but also through the data collected during that time, for everyday use. Can now be recommended to the NHS. “

Ribociclib is currently the third CDK4 / 6 drug available in the NHS as a first-line treatment, along with palbociclib and abemaciclib.