UK Breast Cancer Breakthrough ‘Could Help Thousands”

UK breast cancer breakthrough

Breast Cancer Hope: Drug could help UK breast cancer patients. Image: Wikipedia/Nevitdilmen

A STUDY by The Institute of Cancer Research has found a newly-identified drug could help women in the UK suffering from an aggressive form of breast cancer.

The breakthrough research found medication currently used to treat other forms of breast cancers could help around a fifth of UK women with triple negative breast cancer.

The aggressive form of the disease, which affects thousands of women a year in the UK, could be treated using the drug palbociclib, a medication normally used for breast cancer patients whose disease has spread to other parts of the body.

Researchers found palbociclib could, “provide a much-needed targeted treatment” for those at highest risk of their cancer spreading most quickly.

The drug is already approved for use in patients, meaning it can be used immediately to treat triple negative breast cancer.

Speaking about the UK breast cancer breakthrough, Dr Simon Vincent from Breast Cancer Now, the charity which funded the study, said: “It’s hugely exciting that this research has uncovered a new possible use for palbociclib as a targeted treatment for some women living with triple negative breast cancer.

“Each year, around 8,000 UK women are diagnosed with this aggressive form of breast cancer and we desperately need new, effective ways to treat them and stop them dying from this devastating disease. We hope that if clinical trials confirm that palbociclib is beneficial for some of these women, it will be advanced through the approval process and made available for those who need it as quickly as possible.”

Dr Rachael Natrajan from The Institute of Cancer Research, added: “Our study shows what drives the growth of some triple negative breast cancers and suggests the exciting possibility that an already-approved breast cancer drug could be used to help women with this type of disease.”

Breast Cancer Now also called on women to examine their breasts at least every six weeks in a bid to detect cancer cases early and prevent deaths.


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