Drug used for aggressive breast cancer on PBS from May 1st

The addition of the breast cancer drug Lapatinib (Tykerb) to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) means will mean cheaper access for Australian women with an advanced stage of breast cancer.

Tykerb at present costs breast cancer victims as much as $4,000 each month but will be available on the PBS from next month.

Federal Health minister Nicola Roxon says for most people the drug is costly and making it available on the PBS will mean many women who might otherwise not have been able to have the drug will now be able to.

Tykerb is used to treat HER-2 positive metastatic or advanced breast cancer and is taken once daily in tablet form.

Clinical trials have shown that when given in combination with chemotherapy, lapatinib slows the development of advanced breast cancer, nearly doubling the length of time it takes for the disease to progress (8.4 months) compared to treatment with chemotherapy alone (4.4 months).

About 20-25 per cent of people diagnosed with breast cancer each year have HER-2 positive breast cancer which is a more aggressive form of the disease.

Advanced or metastatic breast cancer means the cancer cells have spread from the breast to other areas of the body, such as the bones or lungs and around 15 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia have advanced or metastatic disease.