Hundreds of thousands of women at risk of breast cancer will be offered a ‘repurposed’ drug to cut their risk of developing disease
Hundreds of thousands of women at risk of breast cancer will be offered a drug to reduce their chances of developing the disease, NHS officials have announced.
Traditionally, anastrozole has been used as a treatment for women suffering from breast cancer.
But studies have shown that hormone therapy can also cut a woman’s chances of developing it in half.
The NHS will offer it as a preventative measure to 289,000 women deemed to be at moderate or high risk of breast cancer.
Traditionally, anastrozole has been used as a treatment for women suffering from breast cancer. But studies have shown that hormone therapy can also cut a woman’s chances of developing it in half
Officials estimate that if a quarter of eligible women in England took up the offer, it could prevent 2,000 cases and save the NHS £15 million in treatment costs.
Lesley-Ann Woodhams, 61, from Flixton, Greater Manchester, was offered anastrozole for breast cancer prevention due to a family history of breast cancer, and completed the five-year course in January.
She said: ‘Taking anastrozole was an easy decision for me because I had seen my mother battle breast cancer and my risk was very high.
‘Anastrozole reduced my risk of developing breast cancer, which meant I could live a life without constantly worrying or thinking about what would happen if I got breast cancer.
‘It really was a gift, it gave my family and myself peace of mind and, more importantly, a future to look forward to.
I am grateful for every day I took this medicine; it was life changing. Thanks to Anastrozole I can continue to live my life as I planned.’
Breast cancer remains the most common form of cancer in England, with 47,000 people diagnosed each year.
Thanks to advances in screening, treatment and care, more women are surviving the disease than ever before.
The once-daily tablet works by reducing the amount of estrogen a patient’s body produces by blocking an enzyme called aromatase.
First recommended by NICE as a preventative treatment in 2017, but uptake was low as it was not licensed for this use.
Now regulators, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), have approved it as a preventative option for postmenopausal women, making it the first drug to be repurposed through an NHS programme.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in Britain, with almost 56,000 cases diagnosed each year
It now joins tamoxifen and raloxifene, which are already licensed to prevent breast cancer.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: ‘It’s fantastic that this vital risk-reducing option can now help thousands of women and their families avoid the pain of a breast cancer diagnosis.
‘It is truly remarkable that more women can live healthier and free from breast cancer, and we hope that today’s licensing of anastrozole for a new use is the first step in ensuring this risk-reducing option is accessible to all who benefit from it. could benefit from.
‘This is the first medicine to be repurposed through a world-leading new program to help us unleash the full potential of existing medicines in new applications to save and improve more lives on the NHS.
‘Through this initiative, we hope that greater access to anastrozole can enable more women to take risk-reducing steps if they wish, allowing them to live without fear of breast cancer.’
Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of the charity Breast Cancer Now, said: ‘The extension of anastrozole’s authorization to cover its use as a risk-reducing treatment is a major step forward allowing more eligible women with a significant family history of breast cancer to reduce their chance of developing the disease.’
Anastrozole is cheap: it costs about four pence per day, per patient. The most common side effects of the drug are hot flashes, feeling weak, pain/stiffness in the joints, arthritis, rash, nausea, headache, osteoporosis and depression.
The Medicines Repurposed Program, established in 2021 by NHS England, DHSC, the MHRA and NICE, aims to see if existing medicines can be used to successfully treat or prevent other conditions.
It builds on the successes of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw tocilizumab, an arthritis drug, and dexamethasone, a widely available steroid, repurposed as treatments for COVID-19.
Health Secretary Will Quince said: ‘Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in Britain, so I am pleased that another effective drug has now been approved to help prevent this cruel disease.
‘We already saw the positive effect that anastrozole can have in treating the disease when it was discovered in postmenopausal women, and now we can use it to stop its development in some women in the first place.
‘This is a great example of NHS England’s innovative Medicines Repurposed Programme, which supports the development of new ways for NHS patients to benefit from existing treatments.’