BREAST cancer patients have been given a lifeline after a drug, which is being withdrawn in England because of its cost, will be made available on the NHS in Scotland.
More than 13,000 people had signed a petition demanding Kadcyla, which can give patients dying from an aggressive form of incurable breast cancer extra months of life, to be made routinely available.
In Scotland, around 4,600 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, with the disease responsible for about 1,000 deaths annually.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) yesterday approved Kadcyla for use by the health service and according to health campaigners at Breast Cancer Now up to 118 women each year could now benefit from the drug.
Women who have campaigned for the drug to be made available welcomed the move.
Alison Tait, a single parent living in Edinburgh with secondary breast cancer, said: "Today, women like me and their families have been given a lifeline.
“Secondary breast cancer is frightening. Nothing is certain anymore.
"It’s drugs like Kadcyla that can give you back hope for the future and a bit of normality.
"I’m not thinking about me today. I’m thinking about my daughter Ellen."
Mother-of-two and campaigner Lesley Graham from Glasgow said: "It means the world to women like us.”
Nicolas White, head of Breast Cancer Care in Scotland, said that "Kadcyla can mean an extra six months with loved ones to make countless more precious memories - that time is priceless".
"These women already live with extreme uncertainty every day, and worries about not being able to access the drugs they need to live longer only add to their anxiety.
"Knowing that Kadcyla is now on the table offers a real glimmer of hope."
SMC chairman Dr Alan MacDonald said the drug - also known as trastuzumab emtansine - had been approved after its manufacturers offered a discount in the cost, which is usually about £90,000 a year per patient.
He said: "From the valuable testimonies given by patient groups and clinicians at our meeting, we know that trastuzumab emtansine will be welcomed by patients and their families for the treatment of breast cancer."
Mary Allison, Breast Cancer Now's director for Scotland, said the decision would "transform treatment options" for patients.
Dr Iain Macpherson, of the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, hailed the announcement as a "significant milestone in cancer drug access in Scotland".
And Professor David Cameron, director of cancer services at NHS Lothian, said: "This decision represents a step forward in cancer care for Scotland - this is indeed a cause for celebration."
Roche, which makes the drug, said the SMC decision shows that when companies and the NHS work together, "we can find successful solutions that work for patients and the health system alike".
Roche UK general manager Richard Erwin said breast cancer patients in Scotland had been denied the treatment for more than two years after the SMC rejected Kadcyla in October 2014.
Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison said the SMC had made a "good decision" in permitting Kadcyla.
She said: "I know that there will be many patients who will be pleased and will benefit from Kadcyla now being available through the NHS and I've certainly met a number of women who have been on Kadcyla and who have wanted to be on Kadcyla, and now this approval has been made the clinical decisions of who will be appropriate will mean that many women will benefit."
Last year the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) in England said Kadcyla is not set at an affordable price. and it will be removed from the NHS England in June.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here