UK Cancer women drug joy
Published: October 19, 2005
HUNDREDS of women will get the life-saving breast cancer drug Herceptin after a landmark decision yesterday.
The South West Peninsula Health Authority, covering Devon and Cornwall, voted to make £4million treatment available immediately to 200 women.
Chief executive Joanne Rule said: “Women all over the country will pray their primary care trusts will follow suit.”
Patients’ charity CancerBACUP called the ruling a “breakthrough”.
Herceptin, which costs £20,000 to £40,000 for a year’s course, halves the chance of aggressive HER-2 breast cancer returning.
But at the moment it is licensed only for women with advanced disease.
Drugs watchdog NICE is fast-tracking a ruling on Herceptin for all after a Sun campaign.
Breast cancer survivor Dorothy Griffiths, who has fought the cause for early treatment with the ‘magic bullet’ drug, said: “This is fantastic news.
“I can’t thank The Sun enough.”
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