Breast cancer drug that cuts risk of death by a third hailed as 'game changer'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A drug which is said to slash the risk of young women dying from breast cancer by a third has been hailed as a ‘game changer’.The cancer growth blocker, which targets the BRCA1 gene mutation, is said to be a “major step forward” in treating people with early stage tumours, the Mirror reports.Research was carried out on 1,836 patients at 671 clinics across the world.

Each of the patients had high-risk HER2-negative early breast cancer and a mutation in their BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes.All of the people studied has undergone more traditional treatments, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapies and general surgery.Half of the participants were randomly selected to take the twice-daily tablet for a year.It found that those who took the pill had a 32 per cent lower risk of dying than the half given a placebo drug.The 10-year international OlympiA trial reported its preliminary results early after just two and a half because it also showed the drug reduced the chance of breast cancer returning by 42 per cent.Professor Kristian Helin, chief executive of London’s Institute of Cancer Research, said: “This is a major step forward in treatment of early-stage inherited breast cancer.“Olaparib has major benefits for this group of patients, increasing their chances of remaining cancer free and potentially being cured after initial treatment.“We hope olaparib will now be licensed in Europe and approved in the UK for NHS patients without delay.“Olaparib was the first cancer drug in the world to directly target inherited genetic faults.“The story of olaparib shows how a fundamental scientific discovery, which identified one of cancer’s weaknesses, can lead to game-changing new treatments.”Did you know you can keep up to date with