A drug hailed as "a new Herceptin" has just been approved for use overseas.

It's called Tykerb and it has already saved the lives of some American women with an aggressive form of advanced breast cancer.

Her-2 breast cancer patient Marsha Brekke is convinced she owes her survival to Tykerb.

"This drug was a Godsend. That's the only way I can explain it," she says.

Brekke, like 200 New Zealand women each year, was diagnosed with her-2 positive breast cancer 18 months ago.

She tried chemotherapy, as well as the drug Herceptin which is controversial in New Zealand because of delays in its funding for early stage cancer.

When Brekke's cancer spread to her liver, doctors trailled her on Tykerb.

"It was my last chance. It's very scary when you are sitting in your doctors office and you know you are terminal," Brekke says.

After six months on Tykerb, her tumours disappeared and she now appears cancer free.

Dr Kimberley Blackwell of Duke University Medical Centre says Tykerb is probably one of the top five developments in breast cancer treatment in her career of taking care of breast cancer patients.

Unlike Herceptin which has to be infused, Tykerb is a pill swallowed daily.

Like Herceptin, Tykerb is a targeted therapy, targeting cancer cells and leaving healthy cells intact.

"Targeting really reflects the fact we're unlocking the secret of why cancer grows," says Dr Clifford Hubis of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre.

Medsafe confirms it has received an application for Tykerb to be considered for registration in New Zealand, but that will not be until July at the earliest. If approved, it is likely to be expensive, similar to Herceptin's $80,000-a-year price tag.

Doctors in this country say while early results on Tykerb look promising, the first priority is to push for wider access to Herceptin.

District Health Boards will announce their decision on funding a nine-week course of that drug next week.
Source: One News