Fresh hope for breast cancer patients

A REVOLUTIONARY breast cancer treatment developed in Cork and tested on Irish women was launched yesterday.

The therapy offers hope to hundreds of Irish patients for whom other treatments have stopped working.

Lapatinib, developed by GlazoSmithKline (GSK), targets a specific type of breast cancer that accounts for more than a quarter of all breast cancer cases.

It is prescribed for use in women with advanced breast cancer who have exhausted all other therapeutic options and who, until now, would have very limited options left available to them.

It targets two receptor proteins from inside the cancer cells that are responsible for restricting tumour growth, whereas existing targeted therapies target only one receptor protein.

And, because it is in tablet form, women do not have to go to hospital to be treated, so they can get on with their lives outside of a clinical setting.

Professor John Crown, a leading investigator in the clinical trials and a member of the All-Ireland Clinical Oncology Research Group (ICORG), said many Irish patients had an early opportunity to benefit from the drug because of the work of ICORG.

Prof Crown, a consultant oncologist at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, said there was great excitement about other potential uses of the drug in the future.

Caroline Dwyer, 30, from Dublin, a breast cancer patient who has been on lapatinib since February said one of the small pleasures of her new treatment was that it was in tablet form.

“Since starting my treatment, I feel more in control of my disease and my medicine. I no longer have to schedule my life around visits to the hospital for therapy,” said Caroline, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004.

In February, however, tests confirmed that the breast cancer had returned and, because of the work of ICORG, Caroline was given an opportunity to benefit from the drug.

“The treatment means I can now act in an amateur dramatic society I’ve been involved with. I’ve also been back at work for four weeks now and I love that,” said Caroline.

And getting back to working full-time as a primary school teacher has been a huge tonic, because Caroline really missed being with children “It’s also about not being a patient as such any more, or at least being a patient now is such a small part of who I am. It’s great.”

Finbar Whyte, site director and vice-president of GSK in Currabinny, Co Cork, said they were proud to be the sole producer of the innovative cancer treatment that would bring relief to many sufferers in Ireland and other global markets.

Minister for Labour Affairs Billy Kelleher said the development of the drug showed that Ireland was still a key location for advanced science.