NICE draft guidance recommends tucatinib for advanced breast cancer
pharmafile | February 25, 2022 | News story | Medical Communications |
Roughly 400 people with advanced breast cancer are set to benefit from a new treatment, following the NICE publication of final draft guidance, recommending tucatinib, also called TUKYSA, used together with trastuzumab and capecitabine.
Helen Knight, programme director in the NICE Centre for Health Technology Evaluation, commented: “Unfortunately there is no cure for breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. There is also a lack of additional anti HER2 treatments which can postpone the need for chemotherapy, especially for people whose cancer has spread to their brain because their treatment options are even more limited.”
Tucatinib in combination with trastuzumab and capecitabine is recommended as an option for treating HER2-positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in people who have already tried at least 2 anti-HER2 treatment regimens.
“Tucatinib is a promising, innovative new treatment that has the potential to increase the length of time before the disease gets worse and how long people live overall,” added Helen Knight. “And because tucatinib is able to cross an intact blood-brain barrier it offers people whose cancer has spread to their brain real hope of extending their lives and improving their quality of life. We are therefore pleased to be able to recommend it for routine use in the NHS.”
Taken as two 150 mg tablets twice daily together with trastuzumab and capecitabine, tucatinib is a type of drug called a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. It works by blocking a specific area of the HER2 gene in cancer cells, which stops the cells from growing and spreading.
NICE expects to issue final guidance on tucatinib in combination with trastuzumab and capecitabine in March.
Ana Ovey
