Breast cancer pill 'cuts deaths'

EXPERTS today revealed new evidence claiming a breast cancer drug can dramatically reduce the number of women dying from the disease.

Scientists at the Royal Marsden Hospital said the treatment was "exciting" and offers hope to tens of thousands of women.

Femara is already used by breast cancer sufferers but maker Novartis will now apply to have its licence extended, based on results of further trials.

These showed Femara cut the risk of dying from breast cancer by 39 per cent for postmenopausal women in the early stages of the disease.

The once-a-day pill is taken after five years on tamoxifen, already said to be a breast cancer wonder drug. The data showed that taking Femara after tamoxifen treatment cut a woman's risk of the cancer returning by 42 per cent.

The research, involving 5,200 women, was presented to the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in New Orleans today.

Professor Ian Smith, of the Royal Marsden, said today: "This is an exciting development." One in nine women in the UK develops breast cancer. Some 41,000 cases are diagnosed a year, most in postmenopausal women. About 14,000 patients die each year.

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