About 4,000 women with breast cancer could benefit from a new twice-daily pill approved on the NHS.
The charity Breast Cancer Now has welcomed a decision by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) to offer women the drug "abemaciclib", which can dramatically reduce the chances of the disease coming back once a tumour has been removed.
The medication, made by Eli Lilly, is suitable for those with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, node-positive early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence who have had surgery.
Results from a clinical trial showed that people having abemaciclib and hormone therapy had a more than 30% better chance of their cancer not coming back following surgery compared with hormone therapy alone.
Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: “It’s fantastic thousands of women with this type of primary breast cancer will now have an additional treatment option available on the NHS to help further reduce the risk of the disease coming back.
