Herceptin to be More Available in the UK

In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) has been given a draft of a policy from National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) stating that patients with early stage breast cancer should be able to get the drug Herceptin. This represents a victory in a fight led by Barbara Clark, who threatened to sue for the right to be given the drug, the use of which was unfunded by the NHS.

Herceptin is a cancer-fighting drug that has been shown to benefit women who have HER2 positive breast cancer. Approximately 20% of all breast cancer cases are HER2 positive, but since Herceptin can increase heart problems, not all are eligible to take the drug. For those who are eligible, it gives a patient a 6% increase of being free of early stage breast cancer up to three years after treatment.