Women with chronic breast cancer will be able to get a drug from the NHS that could extend their life by nearly eight months, under new guidelines.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has approved the drug – ribociclib, also known as Kisqali – for regular use by the NHS in England and Wales. He said about 3,300 women each year with advanced breast cancer could benefit from the decision.
Nice said ribociclib could now be used in combination with another drug, fulvestrant, to treat hormone-promoting receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) – advanced, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in women who have undergoing endocrine therapy already and where there is another drug a combination – exemestane in combination with everolimus – is considered the most appropriate treatment.
The combination of medication could delay the progression of breast cancer and the point at which a patient needs to start chemotherapy, as well as prolong life, Nice said.
Breast cancer campaigners said Nice ‘s decision on ribociclib, which is taken once a day as a tablet, allowed some patients to have an extra month of life.
“This life-changing treatment will now give thousands more women living with secondary breast cancer the hope of extra time to live well,” said Baroness Delyth Morgan , chief executive of the charity Breast Cancer Now.
“As well as offering patients with breast cancer that can’t be given time by loved ones, this innovative combination of drugs can help delay the need for chemotherapy and its sub- its devastating effects. “
A clinical trial found that ribociclib and fulvestrant combined increased survival without moderate improvement compared with placebo plus fulvestrant by five and a half months, from 9.1 months to 14.6 months, and increased median survival by 7.7, months from 32.5 months to 40.2 months.
Ribociclib has been available since 2019 through the Cancer Drug Fund, which was established in 2011 by the consortium government to provide patients with access to undiagnosed or experimental cancer treatments. Nice rule means it is now available through the health service to anyone who needs it, after evidence showed it extended overall survival and proved to be a value the money.
The drug is known as a cyclin-dependent inhibitor of kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4 / 6). It works by disrupting proteins in cancer cells, which stops the cells from dividing and growing. Pills are taken with an aromatase inhibitor, an anti-cancer drug that stops the production of the hormone estrogen, which stops it from stimulating the growth of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers.
Ribociclib is now the third CDK4 / 6 drug available on the NHS as a first-line treatment, along with palbociclib and abemaciclib.