Pill Gives New Hope in Lung Cancer Fight Patients Get More Time With Loved Ones at Home

SCOTS lung cancer patients are being given new hope with a drug which can increase the time they have left with their families.

Dozens of patients at the Beatson Oncology Centre in Glasgow have already been treated with Tarceva, a new kind of chemotherapy that can be taken as a pill at home.

It is likely to be offered widely to Scots patients before the end of the year.

However, thousands of patients in other parts of the UK are likely to die before they get the chance of the pioneering treatment because of delays with drug licensing in England.

Existing chemotherapy can cause patients to lose their hair and damage the immune system, leading to serious infections.

Professor David Dunlop said his patients who used Tarceva successfully in clinical trials were impressed at the results.

He said: “The drug shrinks the tumour, patients look more normal and have less pain, breathlessness and coughing. They are able to get more out of life.”

Last year lung cancer killed 826 people in Glasgow, one in five of the Scottish total.

Professor Dunlop said not all patients were suitable for treatment but he felt more confident using the drug even in very ill people because it did less harm than chemotherapy.

Some of these patients may have just months to live, meaning the new treatment can increase the time they have left with their loved ones . . .

even doubling it in some cases.

The consultant said: “A lot of people I see have events, anniversaries and special dates they want to reach and this can help more patients reach those goals.

“If even 10-per cent of patients are suitable for treatment, that means 450 patients in Scotland could benefit every year, and that has to be worthwhile.”

The Scottish Medicines Consortium is expected to recommend the use of the drug in suitable patients before the end of this year.

john. mccann@ eveningtimes. co. uk