Drug Offers Hope to Scots Breast Cancer Victims Go-Ahead for Revolutionary Treatment Which Can Slash Deaths By Up to a Third
Posted on: Tuesday, 11 October 2005, 15:00 CDT
By STEWART PATERSON
BREAST cancer patients in Scotland will have access to a drug that cuts the number of deaths by a third.
Taxotere, which is for use in the early stages of the disease, has been approved for use in Scotland after a five-year international study.
The news comes as experts predict more women diagnosed with breast cancer will live longer.
Researchers from Cancer Research UK said two-thirds of women now diagnosed with breast cancer are likely to survive at least 20 years.
They predict 64-per cent will survive for 20 years, against 44- per cent in the 1990s, while 70-per cent will live for another 10 years, up from 54-per cent in the 1990s.
The Taxotere study found there was a 30-per cent reduction in the risk of death and and a 28-per cent reduction in re-occurrence of the disease.
UseofthedrugbytheNHSin Scotland is expected to benefit around 80- per cent of new breast cancer patients, boosting their chances of survival.
Cancer experts welcomed the decision by the Scottish Medicines Consortium and hope it will lead to the drug being available all over the UK.
Nearly nine out of 10 women treated with the Taxotere combination were alive after five years. At the end of an average 55 months, 75- per cent were disease free, showing no sign of the cancer returning, against 68-per cent on the standard therapy.
Dr David Cameron, consultant medical oncologist at Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, said: "This is important news for women in Scotland because it means those diagnosed with higher risk breast cancer will be able to have a better chance with this drug."
New treatments, such as Herceptin, are cited as helping to boost women's chances of beating the disease.
Cancer Research UK epidemiologist Professor Michel Coleman said: "Overall long-term survival for women with breast cancer has improved dramatically over the last 10 years and we are seeing even better survival statistics for women in their 50s and 60s."
stewart. paterson@eveningtimes. co. uk
Source: Evening Times; Glasgow (UK)
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