New Breast Cancer Drug Approved (For Use Before Surgery)

Breast Cancer Research is ongoing and changing by the day. From genetic screening to urinalysis to drugs. This new drug has been approved in the US to use before undergoing the surgical option. Could you imagine the implications? Read about it here.






 
This is the script from World news:

"A biotech drug from Roche has become the first medicine approved in the US to treat breast cancer before surgery, offering an earlier approach against one of the deadliest forms of the disease.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved Perjeta for women with a form of early-stage breast cancer who face a high risk of having their cancer spread to other parts of the body.

Surgery to remove tumours is usually the first step in treating most forms of cancer. Perjeta is the first drug to be approved as a pre-surgical step.

Doctors hope that using cancer drugs earlier could help shrink tumours, making them easier to remove. In some cases, that could allow women to keep their breasts, rather than having a full mastectomy. Doctors also say that treating the disease at its earliest stages could prevent tumours from returning later, though studies have not yet established that benefit.

"By making effective therapies available to high-risk patients in the earliest disease setting, we may delay or prevent cancer recurrences," said the FDA's Dr Richard Pazdur.

The FDA granted the drug accelerated approval for its new use based on a study showing women who received the drug as an initial treatment were more likely to be cancer-free 12 weeks later than women who received older drug combinations." 

Source:
World-South China Morning Post: http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1322338/united-states-authority-approves-new-breast-cancer-drug-pre-surgery-use