The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) cleared the way for Herceptin to be prescribed on the National Health Service for women with aggressive HER2 breast cancer following surgery. Herceptin will be paid for by the state health insurance. NICE Chief Executive said that Herceptin is "clinically and cost effective".
Herceptin was recently only used for breast cancer patients with metastatic disease unless the patients had participated in a clinical trial. It has shown now to reduce the risk of recurrence in HER2 positive breast cancer when given as adjuvant therapy.
The challenge is to make sure that all newly diagnosed patients, wherever they live, have access to the HER2 test so they can get Herceptin without delay.
