Tens of thousands of women in England could benefit from a drug that helps prevent breast cancer. The drug Anastrozole, used for many years to treat the disease, has now been licensed as a preventative option.
Recent trials show the drug can reduce the incidence of breast cancer by almost 50% in post-menopausal women at moderate or high risk of the disease – such as a significant family history of the cancer.
An estimated 289,000 women in the UK could be eligible for the drug. If one in four of these come forward, it could help prevent 2,000 cases of breast cancer in England.
Anastrozole is off-patent, which means more than one company can make it and the drug can be distributed fairly cheaply.
First recommended as a preventative option by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, in 2017, its use in this way has now been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as part of NHS England’s medicines-repurposing programme, says the BBC.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in England, with more than 47,000 people diagnosed each year.
Anastrozole works by blocking an enzyme called aromatase to reduce the estrogen hormone, and unlike many other similar medicines, does not seem to create blood clots.
The treatment is taken as a 1mg tablet, once a day for five years. The protective effect lasts for years after a woman has stopped taking the drug, officials said.
