Breakthrough breast cancer drug can extend life of sufferers who have one of disease's most deadly forms

By Nick Craven

PUBLISHED: 17:21 EST, 2 June 2012 | UPDATED: 17:22 EST, 2 June 2012

A new magic bullet drug to be unveiled today will offer hope for thousands of women suffering one of the most deadly forms of breast cancer.

The medicine, aimed at an aggressive form of the disease, is expected to offer several months of quality extra life and drastically cuts the debilitating side effects of traditional therapy.

It could be available in Britain within a year, provided it passes regulatory checks. But experts predict that a clamour for the drug, codenamed T-DM1, will put added financial pressure on the NHS.

Dr Eliot Sims of King George Hospital, Ilford, in Essex, who was part of a trial of the drug, said: Is the emergence of T-DM1 going to cause funding problems? You bet it will.

Breakthrough: The medicine is expected to offer several months of quality extra life for breast cancer sufferers

The clinical consultant oncologist added: Its been the holy grail of oncology to find magic bullets treatments which attack breast cancer without causing side effects. This is a huge breakthrough, and it is unusual to see such dramatic improvements.

Pharmaceutical giant Roche is due to present the results of its latest major trial of the drug.

In earlier trials, patients found that remission time was on average five months longer when given the drug as first-line treatment at an early stage of the incurable advanced HER2-positive form of the disease.

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Breakthrough breast cancer drug can extend life of sufferers who have one of disease's most deadly forms