An NHS statement released today, and as reported in The Guardian, explains how thousands of women at an increased risk of breast cancer could now benefit from a proven risk-reducing drug, after it was licensed to help prevent the disease.
Anastrozole, which has been used for many years as a breast cancer treatment, has today been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as a preventive option – which it is hoped could help prevent around 2,000 cases of breast cancer in England, while saving the NHS around £15 million in treatment costs.
The drug has been shown in trials to reduce the incidence of the disease in post-menopausal women at increased risk of the disease by almost 50%.
It was first recommended as a preventive option by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in 2017, however, with the treatment being unlicensed in this use, not many people had benefitted from it. In an earlier blog, we discussed how previous ground-breaking research published in 2019 found that the drug continued to reduce the risk of breast cancer, even 10 years after treatment with the drug had ended.
Fast forward to now, and thanks to a pioneering Medicines Repurposing Programme led by NHS England, the drug has today been granted a new indication by the MHRA as a preventive option for women at increased risk, including those with a significant family history of the disease.
The treatment is taken as a 1mg tablet, once a day for 5 years. Anastrozole blocks the production of the hormone oestrogen, which fuels the growth of many breast cancers.
As with most medicines there may be common side effects, which include hot flushes, feeling weak, pain/stiffness in the joints, arthritis, skin rash, nausea, headache, osteoporosis, and depression.
Dr Sacha Howell, Prevent Breast Cancer expert, said:
Anastrozole is an effective way of preventing breast cancer from occurring in thousands of post-menopausal women who have a higher risk of developing breast cancer, for example because they have a strong family history of the disease.
The drug has been used as a treatment for many years and has been approved for use in cancer prevention for the last 6 years. However, very few eligible women know about preventive anastrozole. The new license for prevention will hopefully raise awareness and remove one of the barriers for the uptake of this treatment. Anastrozole is a valuable option for women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer in whom a five-year course will cut their risk in half.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. It’s vital that we keep advocating for new preventative treatments to bring these numbers down and help thousands of women every year avoid hearing the shattering news that they have breast cancer.
Anastrozole helps reduce a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer significantly whilst she is taking the drug, but it’s also been shown to keep acting for years after she stops her course of medication, making it a long-term intervention that can help prevent thousands of cases every year.
At just 4p per tablet, this drug is affordable, safe and effective and women at high risk of breast cancer should give serious consideration to taking it.
Read the full article in The Guardian.
About Prevent Breast Cancer
Prevent Breast Cancer is the only UK charity entirely dedicated to the prediction and prevention of breast cancer – we’re committed to freeing the world from the disease altogether. Unlike many cancer charities, we’re focused on preventing, rather than curing. Promoting early diagnosis, screening and lifestyle changes, we believe we can stop the problem before it starts. And being situated at the only breast cancer prevention centre in the UK, we’re right at the front-line in the fight against the disease. Join us today and help us create a future free from breast cancer. If you have any questions or concerns, email us today.
About Prevent Breast Cancer
Prevent Breast Cancer is the only UK charity entirely dedicated to the prediction and prevention of breast cancer – we’re committed to freeing the world from the disease altogether. Unlike many cancer charities, we’re focused on preventing, rather than curing. Promoting early diagnosis, screening and lifestyle changes, we believe we can stop the problem before it starts. And being situated at the only breast cancer prevention centre in the UK, we’re right at the front-line in the fight against the disease. Join us today and help us create a future free from breast cancer. If you have any questions or concerns, email us today.
