Women at higher risk of developing breast cancer are offered a pill that halves their risk of developing breast cancer.
NHS England and UK drug regulators have announced that the pill Anastrozol will now be offered as a cancer preventative, thanks to a new approval process that repurposes old medicines for new uses.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of the health service, said: “It’s fantastic that this vital risk reduction option can now help thousands of women and their families avoid the pain of a breast cancer diagnosis.”
Women who are already using the drug describe it as a “gift” that allows them to live their lives with less worry about a possible cancer diagnosis.
But what exactly is Anastrozole? Who is eligible? And are there any side effects?
Here MailOnline answers all your questions…
Traditionally, anastrozole is used to treat women with breast cancer. However, studies have shown that hormone therapy can also halve a woman’s risk of developing it
What is Anastrozole and how does it work?
Anastrozole is a hormone therapy drug that has been used for years to treat breast cancer.
This reduces the amount of aromatase that the body can produce. After menopause, this enzyme is essential for estrogen production.
It reduces the risk of breast cancer because estrogen stimulates the growth of some forms of the disease.
What happened?
Although Anastrozol has been used as a breast cancer drug for years, doctors can now easily prescribe it to prevent cancer.
The preventive benefits of the drug have been known since 2017.
However, hurdles had to be overcome before it could be offered for this use.
After AstraZeneca’s patent on anastrozole expired, it became a generic drug, meaning it could be made by any drugmaker – a process that usually makes drugs cheaper.
However, it also provides little incentive for companies to go through the steps of approving a generic drug for another medical use—in this case, cancer prevention rather than treatment.
However, the UK Medicines Repurpose Programme, launched in 2021 by the NHS, the government and the UK medicines and treatment regulators, takes over this process.
A small number of women were previously prescribed the drug as a cancer preventative “off-label”, meaning that doctors prescribed it outside of its officially approved use.
However, the new official approval is expected to make it easier for more women to use it, with NHS bosses saying around 289,000 women will be eligible.
How effective is it in preventing cancer?
According to clinical studies, breast cancer rates dropped by 49 percent in women at high risk of breast cancer who took anastrozole.
The study followed 4,000 postmenopausal women over a 10-year period and found that the reduced risk of breast cancer persisted even when women stopped using the drug.
Breast cancer is most commonly diagnosed in women over 50 who are going through menopause; It accounts for 80 percent of all cases in the UK.
How often should patients take it?
Anastrozole is taken as a daily tablet.
Women prescribed the drug to prevent breast cancer take it for five years between the ages of 50 and 69.
Who is entitled to the medication?
According to the NHS, around 289,000 women aged 50 to 69 at moderate to high risk of breast cancer may be eligible for the drug.
Women are considered at moderate risk if they have a close family member who has had breast cancer, such as a mother, sister or daughter.
Your risk of developing the disease is about one in six, compared to one in seven in the general population.
Women are considered to be particularly at risk two close relatives or one close relative and a second more distant relative – such as a grandmother or an aunt – have breast cancer.
Your risk of developing the disease is one in three.
It is expected that women will be offered Anastrozol after a visit to the GP who will review the family history. However, this process may require further consultation with a specialist.
What are the side effects?
The most common side effects are menopausal symptoms.
More than one percent of women using the drug experience hot flashes, sleep problems, fatigue and low mood, as well as dry or itchy vagina, mild pain, and thinning or loss of hair.
However, these side effects usually improve within the first few months of taking anastrozole.
Serious side effects occur in less than 1 in 100 women who use the medicine. These include painful or swollen muscles and joints, liver problems and blurred vision.
How many lives could it save?
There are no concrete estimates on this.
But the NHS says even if just a quarter of eligible women took up the drug’s offer, it would prevent 2,000 cases of breast cancer.
Although not all of these will necessarily be fatal, it spares these women from treatments such as surgery or harsh chemotherapy.
Breast cancer kills around 11,500 Britons every year, making it the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the UK.
For women in particular, breast cancer is the second leading cause of death of all forms of the disease.
Why does the NHS assume that not all eligible women will take the medication?
This is probably because of the side effects.
Some women are more sensitive to it than others or experience worse symptoms while taking the drug, so they may choose to stop using it.
Because anastrozole is a cancer prevention drug, a woman using the drug has no evidence that it prevented her from developing breast cancer.
Considering that even a woman at high risk of developing breast cancer has a greater chance of escaping the disease than of receiving a cancer diagnosis, some women may conclude that the drug is not worth the effort. is worth taking for five years.
How much does the medication cost?
Anastrozole costs just 4p per tablet, meaning a five-year course costs £70 in total.
It would cost £5.3 million if 72,250 women took the drug for five years.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
