Three-drug treatment for breast cancer can slow the spread of the disease TWICE as long as existing therapies

A breakthrough three-drug treatment for aggressive, advanced breast cancer can slow the spread of the disease twice as long as existing therapies, a trial shows.

Thousands of women could benefit after tests showed the method was more effective than current NHS offering.

The study of 325 patients with advanced breast cancer from 28 countries found it could slow disease progression by 15 months, compared to 7.3 months.

Researchers have hailed the results as potentially ‘transformative’ for people with PIK3CA mutated HR+/HER2- breast cancer – a common form of the disease caused by a mutation on the PIK3CA gene.

Half of the patients in the study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, received the available treatment of palbociclib, a cancer growth blocker, and fulvestrant, a hormone therapy.

The study of 325 patients with advanced breast cancer from 28 countries found it could slow disease progression by 15 months, compared to 7.3 months (stock image)

Researchers have hailed the results as potentially ‘transformative’ for people with PIK3CA mutated HR+/HER2- breast cancer – a common form of the disease caused by a mutation on the PIK3CA gene (stock image)

Thousands of women could benefit after tests showed the method was more effective than current NHS offering (stock image)

Half of the patients in the study received the available treatment with palbociclib (pictured)

The other half also received the new drug inavolisib, which blocks the activity of the PIK3 protein.

After 18 months, 46.2 percent of patients in the three-drug group showed no signs of disease progression, compared with 21.1 percent of those in the first group.

Lead author Nick Turner, professor of molecular oncology at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: ‘It is a huge breakthrough that… could mean transformative progress for people with this type of breast cancer.’