Breast Cancer Drug Finally Approved

The breast cancer drug, called Eribulin, will be used in treating patients.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Eribulin is a breast cancer drug which has been previously considered a viable treatment for women with advanced breast cancer, especially because it gives additional tree months to patients in terminal stages.

Specialists hail the initiative underlining that this breast cancer drug will grant patients vital extra time to spend with their friends and families. However, they stress that it has taken too much for the NHS to assess Eribulin, meaning that comprehensive research must be done to overhaul this medication.

Apart from this, experts and patients criticized NICE for their policy regarding the breast cancer drug’s cost effectiveness. Due to these regulations, ten other breast cancer medications were rejected.

Eribulin is a very powerful drug, so just one drip is administered twice once at every twenty-one days. This treatment will be made available in Wales and England first, as around 1,500 women will most likely receive Eribulin every year.

This drug is given to patients suffering from an advanced form of breast cancer for whom minimum two distinct chemotherapy drugs have proven ineffective. Based on NICE previous estimates, the drug costs around £10,380 for about half a year of treatment.

According to Carole Longson, NICE director of Health Technology Evaluation Center, the agency is happy to recommend this breast cancer drug for patients who need it the most. She further explained that when NICE first analyzed Eribulin back in 2012, there was still no proof that the drug was clinically effective and in accordance with other standard treatments.

After recent reports had revealed that Eribulin could provide patients with an average of three extra months, NICE decided to approve it. This breast cancer drug is manufactured by Eisai, a Japanese firm also known as Halaven, which is its brand name.

Eribulin was first made available for some patients supported by the Cancer Drugs Fund. More precisely, around 900 received this drug, although 1,500 could benefit from it. Scientists developed Eribulin from a sea sponge, known as Halichondria Okadai, and it works by stopping the separating process of cancer cells, meaning that it blocks the development of tumors.

Breast cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer across the United States and England with about 45,000 women diagnosed every year. Also, about 300 men develop this disease. Experts will continue their research on this breast cancer drug which is expected to improve the life-quality of many patients.

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Tara Hamilton

Tara has graduated from the University of Oregon, with bachelors degree in Spanish Literature in 2010. She lived in Miami for one year and travelled extensively before settling down in El Paso.