Breakthrough for prostate cancer patients as NHS now offers life-extending drug
NHS offers new life-extending drug in major prostate cancer breakthrough
- A new life-extending drug, Talazoparib (Talzenna), has been approved for NHS use in England for men with advanced prostate cancer.
- The once-daily pill, taken in combination with enzalutamide, is suitable for patients whose cancer has spread and who cannot receive chemotherapy or other standard treatments.
- Talazoparib works by blocking enzymes that repair damaged DNA in cancer cells, leading to their death.
- Clinical trials demonstrated that patients taking Talazoparib with enzalutamide lived almost nine months longer and had more time before their cancer worsened.
- Approximately 2,400 men in England are eligible for the drug, which becomes available on the NHS today, following recent findings that prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK.