UK – AstraZeneca’s Lynparza recommended by NICE to treat advanced breast cancer

AstraZeneca’s Lynparza (olaparib) has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to treat a new subset of breast cancer patients.

The health technology assessment agency has recommended that the drug be used on the NHS in England and Wales to treat adults with HER2-negative, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer with germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations after chemotherapy.

Germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are responsible for approximately 52% and 32% of hereditary breast cancer cases, respectively, and patients carrying these mutations have a 50% chance of passing the gene variant to their children…