The Health Service Executive (HSE) has approved a new treatment option for people with breast cancer at high-risk of recurrence, which could reduce the chance of their cancer returning by more than 30 per cent.
The drug, called abemaciclib, will be given to people with high-risk oestrogen-driven breast cancer – the most common type of breast cancer, according to oncologists. Abemaciclib is a tablet and is given for two years to eligible patients, in combination with endocrine therapy.
Patients in receipt of the drug will have the risk of their cancer relapsing or returning in another part of their body reduced by 32 per cent, according to a large international trial.
The drug, from pharmaceutical business Eli Lilly and Company, was given initial market authorisation in 2018 for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) granting further authorisation for use in early breast cancer in April 2022.
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In September 2023, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, Ireland made a recommendation to the HSE that it should “consider funding abemaciclib if its cost effectiveness (value for money) can be improved”.
In a statement, the HSE said it has “approved abemaciclib for reimbursement to be given to people with high-risk oestrogen driven breast cancer. It will be available from the 1st of June”.
Prof Janice Walshe, clinical professor and consultant medical oncologist at St Vincent’s University Hospital, described the news as a “significant milestone” which “enhances treatment options for eligible patients diagnosed with high-risk early breast cancer in Ireland”.
Prof Stephen Johnston, consultant medical oncologist and head of the breast unit at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, as well as lead investigator for the trial on the effectiveness of the drug for early breast cancer patients, said abemaciclib is a “significant breakthrough”.
“[It] is the first licensed treatment for this patient group in 20 years. I’m delighted that it will be available through Ireland’s healthcare system for eligible patients to help reduce their risk of recurrence,” Prof Johnston said.
Physicians, patients and politicians had been consistently calling for the drug to be made available in Ireland under the HSE in the years since the EMA’s approval.
A 2022 study, published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science, found patients in Ireland “often experience significant delays to reimbursement of novel treatment options” following marketing authorisation.
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