New drug for stage 4

[kduck]

30% boost in survival rates for women under 59 with hormone postive, her2 negative mbc. Drug known as a cycling inhibitor increased survival rate to 70%. Sisters researchers are working 24 hours, 7 7 days a week for us to live longer, I pray a cure is in the near future.

[Baseface]

I read this in The Independent yesterday. Shared with my wife but the statistics and style of writing made my her angry. I think to be honest it was probably Baroness Delyth Morgan's comments about giving 'hope' and 'more time with their families'.

Not the Baroness's fault obviously, it's hard to express how great this is without stating some statistical improvement. But when somebody is talking about your own existence, it must feel very different. I read it as positive but I am not the one suffering with MBC. Try as I might I cannot put myself fully in her shoes. But if these drugs can halt disease progression for a significant amount of time then there is always the chance of the next drug / and the next etc.

My wife is taking Palbociclib which is another of the drugs which has recently had a deal brokered for the NHS. independent.co.uk/life-styl...

Palbociclib has only been on the list of approved drugs on the NHS for 8 months, I think. I feel like all the hard work and research been done over the past decade will start coming forward.

I think the 80's and 90's saw big improvements with Chemo and Radio safety, once that line of investigation was saturated the Pharmaceutical companies were looking at other approaches to be 'first to market'. Agree or not with the idea of free market economics it does force these companies to innovate.

Hopefully the other side of this is that we are seeing a new age of costing for these drugs which makes them more accessible. Surely moderate pricing means more patients using the drugs, saving more lives with a small impact to the Pharma companies bottom line. But a huge boost in their profile and brand.

[Barbteeth in reply to Baseface]

Palbociclib has been available on NHS for about 18 months now.

Barb xx

[Baseface in reply to Barbteeth]

Must have misheard. So much info to take in at initial consultation

[Teddielottie in reply to Baseface]

Yes I have been on palbociclib ( and doing ok ,so far, on it ) for just over 18 months now on the NHS (I am in Yorkshire ). Which region is your wife in ? Hope she does well too .

[Baseface in reply to Teddielottie]

We're in God’s own county also!

[Teddielottie in reply to Baseface]

Wish your wife well with her treatment ...and do get her to join us on this site ! ... it is not only a great source of extra information , but a chance to share with some lovely ladies , who are all going through it and understand ! x

[Baseface in reply to Teddielottie]

I have vetted the forum and I agree

[kduck in reply to Barbteeth]

True but combined with hormonal treatment, 70% survival rate.

[Marieleb in reply to Baseface]

Hi yes read article too and felt they were recycling some existing stuff for good PR.My understanding is that ribociclib and palbo are effectively the same but the former is aimed at premenopausal patient... Its use was approved by NICE at same time as palbo in Nov 17 ... I will check with oncologist later this month more details but I suspect NHS will probably work on you can either be offered palbo or ribo not one after the other...I am still not sure why I was offered palbo instead of ribo as I was premenopausal but hey that's another one for which ever oncologist I see later this month...As you say so much info out there... And not the 8 year medical degree to ease the complexity behind us ! Hard work...

[Baseface in reply to Marieleb]

My wife is premenopausal by age but has been on tamoxifen for 4+ years. So perhaps the body being in synthesised menopause was the reason for being prescribed palbociclib. Seems to be working, which is the main thing.

[Marieleb in reply to Baseface]

Absolutely. Seems my luck has run out on palbo after less than a year... Quite gutted but nothing I can do about it so just looking at what comes next!

[Baseface in reply to Marieleb]

I’m sorry to hear that. Do you know what you the next line is?

[Baseface in reply to Baseface]

We just got back from the doc and my wife has a low white blood cell count. So we have to wait before the next cycle can be started. Hope that will recover in the week. It really is a roller coaster.

[Maludagui in reply to Baseface]

Hi. I has a same condition I drink green juice and eat full berries.

[Baseface in reply to Maludagui]

What’s in your Green Juice 🥤

[Marieleb in reply to Baseface]

Should find out on 19th June. The last PET in April showed small progression ...They decided to continue for a further 2 months before they decide what to do next. Next PET is 17th and appointment on 19th... I had really hoped I would be on palbo for a couple of years but hey just shows you you need to be positive but realistic... Response to treatment is very personal... I hope your wife will be able to been from it for longer... Some woman here have been on it for years!

[Scandia68 in reply to Marieleb]

Sorry to hear you had progression on palbociclib I read in America they take people off for 3weeks then start again with it working so definitely worth looking into x

[Gwennie123 in reply to Scandia68]

When my wbc went down they lowered me from 125 to 75

for a couple of months. Seemed to work. Good luck.

[Baseface in reply to Marieleb]

That sucks. Seems like there are quite a few options. As you say everyone is different. Good luck moving forward. I’m sure they will work it out.

[Barbteeth]

I agree with Teddielottie...try and get your wife to join us...not only are we ladies with mbc...we are supportive of one another and we do talk of other things besides cancer...we do also have a moan and a laugh as well

Barb xx

[Tam-56]

Amen!

[Evaf]

What is the name of this new drug?

Thanks xx

[shannamilton]

I saw this. I'm surgically in menopause, but it said this can be used for hr+ patients too. I'm only 35, and ibrance failed, so this is great news. Any extra time I have with my kids is a blessing. My oldest starts middle school is August, and my little girl starts kindergarten. These drugs are a miracle. August will be 1 year with MBC. I'm currently taking lynparza.

[kduck in reply to shannamilton]

Yes these drugs are for peri and per menopause. I too have young children at home but with theses drugs I feel in going to be able to live longer for them. God bless

[mariootsi]

All our prayers are with the researchers and everyone on this site!

[Livinthedream]

Is there an link online?

[mariootsi]

What is the name of the drug?

[kduck in reply to mariootsi]

It's really not new but it's kisquail, dnt knw if that's the correct spelling but they combine it with hormonal treatment

[mariootsi in reply to kduck]

Thank you.

[Bestbird]

Thank you for posting this! Below are some additional specifics:

If you are pre- or perimenopausal and have hormone receptor positive, HER2- MBC for which you have not yet had endocrine therapy, you'll want to read this!

At ASCO 2019, it was disclosed that adding Kisqali (Ribociclib) to hormonal therapy for pre- and perimenopausal hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative patients significantly increased Overall Survival (OS). These findings are based upon the MONALEESA-7 study, which enrolled 672 pre- and peri-menopausal patients who had not received prior hormonal therapy. The patients were randomized to receive either Kisqali or a placebo in combination with Tamoxifen (or Letrozole or Aromasin) and Zoladex, an ovarian suppression drug.

The study determined that the Kisqali combination resulted in 70.2% Overall Survival (OS) at 42 months versus 46% OS in patients receiving hormone therapy without Kisqali. This corresponds to a 29% lower risk of death in patients receiving the Kisqali combination therapy.

Kisqali in combination with endocrine therapy has been approved in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia (and potentially other countries) for pre- or perimenopausal patients who have hormone receptor positive, HER2- MBC.

From: eurekalert.org/pub_releases...

This and other information about approved treatments and cutting edge research can be found in my book, "The Insider's Guide to Metastatic Breast Cancer," which is also available in a complimentary .pdf. For more information, please visit: insidersguidembc.com/about