Madrid (EFE).- Dr. Eva Ciruelos, coordinator of the Breast and Gynecological Cancer Unit of the 12 de Octubre University Hospital in Madrid, has indicated that a new treatment for metastatic breast cancer will increase the average overall survival ” significantly”, which will have an impact on “improving the quality of life of patients, even in brain metastases”, he said today in statements to EFE.
Every year almost 35,000 new cases of breast cancer are detected in Spain, of which between 5 and 6% present metastases at the time of diagnosis.
Additionally, approximately 30% of women diagnosed at an early stage experienced a tumor recurrence with distant metastases, even years after completing their first treatment, added Dr. Ciruelos.
New treatment called tucatinib
Hence, it has considered that this new treatment, called tucatinib, combined with other treatments -trastuzumab and capecitabine-, could create “a before and after”, since it increases the mean overall survival by 5.5 months compared to the placebo combination -24.7 months for the multi-drug combination group, versus 19.2 months for the placebo group.
For her, the challenge now is to ensure that these new alternatives are integrated into existing treatments, “so that we are able to share experiences in real practice”, to achieve biomarker studies with tumor biopsies from patients.
These clinical studies, which have already been included in the portfolio of products of the National Health System, as announced by Ciruelos, have revealed that the drug “manages to break through the protective barrier that the brain itself generates and significantly control the disease.” , in an “even more striking way in these patients than in the case of patients who do not have them.”
The goal is to improve and prolong the lives of patients
Thus, the general director of Seagen in Spain, Italy and Portugal, Rodrigo Fernández-Baca, has been “proud to announce the obtaining, by the Ministry of Health, of the reimbursement price for the therapy in Spain, since its financing improves treatment options and sequence for HER-2 positive breast cancer patients.”
For her part, María Baquerizo, spokesperson for Seagen, a global biotechnology company specializing in cancer drugs, told EFE that the objective is to “prolong and improve the quality of life of patients with metastatic breast cancer.”
In this sense, they have had the participation of 612 patients in clinical trials and several health centers, including 15 Spanish hospitals.
“I am proud to say that Spain has recruited the largest number of them at a European level. In addition, our country plays a critical role because the active principle of the medicine is manufactured here, in collaboration with ESTEVE laboratories”, she added.
