Fears over price of breakthrough cancer drug

AN expensive therapy offering women with breast cancer the chance to double their life expectancy is available in Ireland.

But a cancer specialist warned that the acid test would be whether the Government was prepared to foot the bill for the drug.

About a year and a half ago it became known that the drug, Avastin, offered a benefit for women with advanced breast cancer when used together with chemotherapy.

The treatment costs around €4,000 a month and is taken once every two weeks by intravenous infusion. The cost is also dependent on the weight of the patient and dosage.

Prof John Crown said cancer specialists in Ireland started using the drug to treat women as soon as the information on how it worked became available a year and a half ago.

The drug, which is also used in the treatment of colorectal cancer, works by starving a tumour of its blood supply. In effect, it stops the cancer from progressing.

The European Commission has approved Avastin, developed by Roche, for the first-line treatment of women with metastatic breast cancer in combination with a particular form of chemotherapy.

“It is an exciting development and it is an important improvement for women with advanced incurable breast cancer and it shows that investing money in research works,” said Prof Crown.

He warned, however that Avastin would also be an important test case for the State’s ability to pay for expensive drugs.

“Avastin is a very pricey drug and breast cancer is a very common disease,” he pointed out.

Action Breast Cancer manager, Abby Langtry, said they would welcome any drug that improved the lives of women diagnosed with a disease.

Now that the drug was licensed, every women who could benefit from the drug should get it, she stressed.

Breast cancer claims the lives of around 640 women in Ireland every year and new statistics released by the National Cancer Registry highlighted the importance of targeted treatments.

National estimates of five year survival were 72.9% for cases diagnosed during 1994 to 1997 and 78.2% for 1998 to 2001.

Director of medical affairs with Roche Products Ireland, Dr Edwin Carr, said most of the improvements seen in breast cancer survival between the two periods appeared to reflect improved treatment.

“This may involve greater or more appropriate use of specific treatments,” he pointed out.

Avastin received an EU-wide licence in January 2005 for first-line treatment of patents with colorectal cancer and approval was sought in August 2006 to use the drug in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

Those with concerns about breast cancer can call Action Breast Cancer at freephone 1800-309040, which is staffed by a specialist breast care nurse weekdays 9am to 5pm.