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More women to benefit from early stage breast cancer treatment 20 July 2005 Bupa has today announced that it will fund the use of Herceptin® for early breast cancer treatment. Eligible patients with the more aggressive HER2 positive form of the disease - one in four newly diagnosed UK breast cancer patients - will have access to the treatment. At least 400 Bupa members with early stage breast cancer could directly benefit from the use of Herceptin as an adjuvant (post surgery or chemotherapy) therapy if results of an initial trial are replicated. The announcement follows results from three major trials that reported interim results at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in May 2005, showing that, when used in the adjuvant setting for HER2 positive breast cancer, the treatment reduces the risk of the cancer recurring by up to 52 percent. The NHS does not provide Herceptin for early stage breast cancer patients, however Bupa has agreed to pay for the drug, manufactured by Roche, in advance of a licence being granted for early stage use - expected mid-2006. Currently Herceptin is approved by the National Centre for Clinical Excellence (NICE) for use in late stage (metastatic) HER2 positive breast cancer, where the cancer has already started to spread, and Bupa routinely funds this treatment. Dr Natalie-Jane Macdonald, medical director at Bupa Insurance said: "Historically we have funded Herceptin as a treatment for late stage breast cancer in line with its current licence. However, given the impressive results of recent trials, we have decided to fund it for the treatment early stage breast cancer for HER2 positive patients because we believe it will directly benefit women with this diagnosis, and their families. "We are currently in the process of contacting a number of women whose consultants have requested Herceptin for early stage treatment, prior to our decision to fund it, so that we can now confirm that we will pay for it." Bupa spends more than £145m a year on cancer treatment, covering all stages - including terminal - and does not withdraw cover for the condition at any stage. Last year the charity CancerBacup conducted a survey of 14 medical insurance providers in which it found that only Bupa offered adequate cover for cancer conditions. Bupa also developed the UK's first Heart and Cancer policy on the back of evidence suggesting these were the two biggest healthcare worries. And, Bupa has established networks of specialist cancer centres for the treatment of breast, bowel and gynaecological cancers, where people can be looked after by some of the country’s leading cancer experts.
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