Lung cancer oral pill breakthrough
Published: September 22, 2005
A new treatment for lung cancer that significantly increases the chances of a patient surviving more than a year has been launched.
Tarceva, which is taken orally as a simple white pill, targets a molecule with a key role in the growth and extended lifespan of cancer cells.
The European Medicines Agency has now granted a Europe-wide licence for the drug to be used to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients who have failed on at least one prior chemotherapy treatment.
Trials have shown that the drug, which can be taken at home rather than in hospital, increases one-year survival in lung cancer patients by 43%, reducing symptoms such as breathlessness, pain and coughing.
Last year it was announced that scientists at more than 70 centres across the UK would test Tarceva on patients with advanced lung cancer, which is currently very difficult to treat.
At the moment around 20,000 lung cancer patients a year are not offered active treatment for their condition as the options available are not considered appropriate or the patient is not fit enough for treatment.
The drug selectively blocks the action of a molecule called the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which relays instructions to cells to grow and divide, and to ignore signals telling them to die. This process seems to be particularly important for the growth and survival of some cancer cells.
Three of the UK’s largest private health insurers - Bupa, AXA PPP and Standard Life Healthcare - have said that they will make Tarceva available to qualifying members. But those waiting for treatment on the NHS might not get the drug as quickly.
It is thought that Tarceva, which is made by drugs giant Roche, will not be reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) until 2007.
This could make the drug more widely available across the NHS in England and Wales and combat the so-called postcode lottery of treatment.
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