Combined treatment gives new hope to breast cancer patients

A new combination of treatments could help thousands of younger women with bad cancer live longer, according to research.

The addition of ribociclib, a targeting drug that disrupts cancer cells, to standard hormone therapy has been found to boost survival in pre-menopausal patients with advanced forms of the disease.

The risk of death was reduced by almost a third (29%) compared to people treated only with hormone therapy, according to the study presented at the annual meeting of the ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) in Chicago.

Responding to the findings, Baroness Delyth Morgan, Executive Director of Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now, said: "This is great news for patients and their families."

The research, led by Dr. Sara Hurvitz, of the University of California at Los Angeles, involved 672 postmenopausal women under age 59 with HER2 negative hormone-receptor positive bad cancer.

The patients received either ribociclib, a drug that targets and interferes with the processes in the cells responsible for cancer development, or a placebo. All women also received hormonal treatment.

After 42 months, 70% of patients treated with combination therapy were still alive, compared with 46% of those receiving only hormone therapy.

"This is the first study to show an improvement in survival for any targeted therapy when it is used in endocrine therapy as a first-line treatment for advanced bad cancer," said Dr. Hurvitz, principal author of the book.

"The use of ribociclib as a first-line treatment has significantly extended overall survival, which is good news for women with this terrible disease."

The research also found that women who received ribociclib experienced an average of 23.8 months without disease progression compared to 13 months for placebo-treated patients.

"We have known for some time that the administration of ribociclib with an aromatase inhibitor can slow the spread of incurable bad cancer, but know now that it can also prolong the life of premenopausal patients." is the new hope expected by so many families, "Baroness Delyth said.

"The recent introduction of this clbad of drugs into NHS care has been a long-awaited advance in our ability to delay the progression of the most common type of incurable bad cancer.

"It is now absolutely fantastic to see the very first evidence that ribociclib can give more time to thousands of younger women with metastatic bad cancer.

"We can not say in words what it will mean for so many women to be able to spend extra precious time with their families and create memories that will last a lifetime."

She added, "This clbad of drugs, and the way it slows the growth of cancer, is one of the greatest advances in bad cancer research in recent decades and it is essential to ensure that that all the patients who could benefit from it can have access to it ".