Britain's health service rolls out breast cancer prevention pill

Thousands of women at increased risk of breast cancer are set to benefit from a riskreducing drug to be offered by Britains National Health Service NHS after it was licensed for use to help prevent the disease the statefunded health service announced on TuesdayAnastrozole which has been used for many years as a breast cancer treatment has today been licensed by the UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency MHRA as a preventive optionwhich it is hoped could help prevent thousands of breast cancer cases in EnglandThe drug which is offpatent has been shown in trials to reduce the incidence of the disease in postmenopausal women at increased risk of the disease by almost 50 per centBreast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK so Im delighted that another effective drug to help to prevent this cruel disease has now been approved said UK Health Minister Will QuinceWeve already seen the positive effect Anastrozole can have in treating the disease when it has been detected in postmenopausal women and now we can use it to stop it developing at all in some women This is a great example of NHS Englands innovative Medicines Repurposing Programme supporting the development of new ways for NHS patients to benefit from existing treatments he saidAround 289000 women at moderate or high risk of breast cancer could be eligible for the drug and while not all will choose to take it it is estimated that if 25 per cent do around 2000 cases of breast cancer could potentially be prevented in England while saving the NHS around GBP 15 million in treatment costsThis is the first drug to be repurposed though a worldleading new programme to help us realise the full potential of existing medicines in new uses to save and improve more lives on the NHS Thanks to this initiative we hope that greater access to anastrozole could enable more women to take riskreducing steps if theyd like to helping them live without fear of breast cancer said NHS chief executive Amanda PritchardThe treatment is taken as a 1mg tablet once a day for five years Anastrozole is an aromatase inhibitor which works by cutting down the amount of the hormone oestrogen that a patients body makes by blocking an enzyme called aromataseThe most common side effects of the medicine are hot flushes feeling weak painstiffness in the joints arthritis skin rash nausea headache osteoporosis and depression Anyone who suspects they are having a side effect from this medicine is encouraged to talk to their doctor pharmacist or nurse and report it directly to the MHRAs Yellow Card schemeThe extension of anastrozoles licence to cover it being used as a riskreducing treatment is a major step forward that will enable more eligible women with a significant family history of breast cancer to reduce their chance of developing the disease said Baroness Delyth Morgan chief executive at the Breast Cancer Now charityThe UKs Medicines Repurposing Programme was set up in 2021 and is hosted by NHS England and supported by the government to build on the innovation in medicines repurposing seen during the Covid19 pandemic when tocilizumab an arthritis drug and dexamethasone a widely available steroid was repurposed as treatments for coronavirusThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever