European women soon to have access to new breast cancer drug

European women suffering from breast cancer will soon have access to the breast cancer drug Arimidex after British authorities granted approval for the drug to be used in a wider range of European women with breast cancer.

AstraZeneca is an Anglo-Swedish company and it's product, Arimidex, an aromatase inhibitor, has been shown in clinical trials to offer a 26 percent reduction in the risk of breast cancer recurring compared with tamoxifen, the current standard drug for managing the disease.

Britain will act as a reference member state for the European Union, and has cleared the product for post-surgery treatment of postmenopausal women who have hormone positive early invasive breast cancer.

This move means that more women whose cancer is fuelled by the hormone oestrogen, about 75 per cent of all postmenopausal cases, will now be eligible to receive Arimidex.

According to the drug company, approval from Britain should automatically lead to further approvals in five other European countries, Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

At present tamoxifen, which has been around for 30 years, is the first drug used.

France and some other European countries have already given approval for the early use of Arimidex.

AstraZeneca says approximately five times more patients would now have the opportunity to take Arimidex.

The company expects the drug to become the new standard of care in early breast cancer.