“The great innovation is the ability to keep the disease under control for a much longer period than in the past, with a benefit in the quality of life and experience of women, better because they do not need to change medications and do not have to live with the psychological burden of the resistance of the disease to the drug. It is therefore a great benefit not only from the clinical point of view, but also from the psychological point of view. But it is important that all women with metastatic breast cancer are treated within the Breast Unit, to guarantee them a multidisciplinary approach, access to innovative therapies and better life expectancy”. Thus Lucia Del Mastro, full professor and clinical director of medical oncology of the Irccs Policlinico San Martino, University of Genoa, in her speech, this morning in Milan, at the press conference for the approval of the reimbursement of trastuzumab-deruxtecan by Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca by the Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa), in second line for patients with Her2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
“Women with this pathology – underlines Del Mastro – need to be treated continuously. In the majority of cases there is resistance to treatment and effective drugs against metastases are needed”. The new drug-conjugated monoclonal antibody “is capable of keeping the disease under control in a much longer time than we achieved with other drugs – explains the oncologist – The progression time is over 28 months, so it means that the 50% maintain control for over 2 years and the other 50% even longer. The drug we used before had a median time of about 7 months.”
However, it is important, Del Mastro points out, that “the treatment is within the Breast Unit. Unlike cases diagnosed with breast cancer in the initial stage, there are still difficulties in monitoring the access of patients with metastatic disease. But it has been shown that therapeutic results also depend on the level of experience gained by the centers where the treatments are carried out. Therefore, the collaboration of patient associations is essential to raise awareness among all women of the importance of being treated in Breast Units, also for access to clinical trials and innovative therapies”.
“A woman with metastatic breast cancer – highlights Anna Maria Mancuso, president of Salute Donna non-profit organization – must undertake a complex path not only from a therapeutic point of view, but also psychological and emotional, in all phases, including at the end of life. Innovation is worth life, it can lead to a chronicization of the disease which creates a long life expectancy. Also for this reason, as an association, we have promoted the establishment of the Innovative Medicines Fund. It’s true, they cost, but these make the difference, because from this Fund there is hope to use drugs that can save lives.”
“Metastatic breast cancer today is becoming an increasingly treatable pathology – recalls Rosanna D’Antona, president of Europe Donna Italia – The formal institution of the dedicated national day, which is celebrated every year on 13 October, strongly supported by patient associations, therefore it does not represent a point of arrival, but of departure. Among the themes addressed by our Manifesto”, there are “the request to the institutions to become aware of the specificities of this neoplasm and the commitment to identifying the health policy approach more appropriate”.
“In addition to the specific paths within the Breast Units, where a multidisciplinary team must be present and access to tests for frequent diagnostic checks must be facilitated – concludes D’Antona – it is important to guarantee rapid access to innovative drugs, information on clinical studies, assistance from a psycho-oncologist and assessment of civil disability in a short time”.
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