 states that certain patients in England should be eligible for the drug, which is also known as Keytruda and made by MSD. The immunotherapy, delivered via the bloodstream, targets and blocks a specific protein on the surface of certain immune cells which then seek out and destroy the cancerous cells. Commenting on the news, Baroness Delyth Morgan, the chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: "This new treatment can potentially lead to any detectable cancer disappearing by the time of surgery, meaning patients will then possibly face less invasive, breast-conserving surgery. "Furthermore, by significantly reducing the likelihood of breast cancer recurring or spreading to other parts of the body where it becomes incurable secondary breast cancer, this treatment brings precious hope of more lives potentially being saved from this devastating disease." 'Hugely significant moment' Earlier this year, the drug was made available to around 100 women a year with advanced triple-negative breast cancer. Today's announcement means hundreds more will be able to access the drug and increases the chance of stopping the cancer progression and creating the possibility of long-term cancer-free survival for patients. Amanda Pritchard, the NHS chief executive, said it was a 'hugely significant moment for women'. Helen Knight, the interim director of medicines evaluation at Nice, said: "Triple negative breast cancer has a relatively poor prognosis and there are few effective treatments compared with other types of the disease. "Today's draft guidance means that we have now recommended three new treatments for routine use in the NHS since June, helping to address this unmet need and giving hope of a longer and a better quality of life to thousands of people." The NHS in England said that it has already struck a){kind=link}
Some 1,600 patients with triple negative breast cancer in England will be offered the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab
Women with an aggressive form of breast cancer will benefit from a new, potentially “life-saving”, drug on the NHS.
Some 1,600 patients in England with triple negative breast cancer will be offered pembrolizumab after officials struck a confidential deal with the manufacturer.
Research suggests that taking the immunotherapy along with chemotherapy before surgery, then continuing with pembrolizumab alone after surgery increases the chance of eradicating the cancer. It also increases the length of time before cancer returns, research has found.
Breast Cancer Now welcomed the news and said that women with this type of breast cancer previously faced the “frightening reality of limited treatment options”.