Three-drug treatment combo ‘holds back aggressive breast cancer for a year'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
A NEW triple threat drug combination could hold aggressive breast cancer at bay for an extra year, a trial found.
Adding the medicine inavolisib to an already used pair of drugs delayed the need for chemotherapy by almost two years.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
1
Breast cancer gets harder to treat as cells become resistant to drugs (stock image)
Credit: Getty
It prevented tumours from growing for an average of 17 months, compared to seven months in patients using the standard drug pairing palbociclib and fulvestrant.
An estimated 1,000 British women per year could benefit.
The combo works for women with a specific breast cancer type called HR+ HER2- with a PIK3CA mutation, which accounts for about three in 10 cases.
Professor Kristian Helin, chief of The Institute of Cancer Research in London, said: 'We need to tackle treatment resistance head-on to continue improving survival rates.
'This triple combination approach effectively shuts down cancer's escape routes, giving people with metastatic breast cancer the opportunity to live well for longer.'
The trial included 325 patients with aggressive and advanced breast cancer from 28 countries.
Cancers shrank in two thirds of people receiving the triple drug combination, compared to 28 per cent of those on standard treatment.
New go-to option for docs
Study author Professor Nicholas Turner, of the Royal Marsden NHS hospital in London, said: 'This therapy not only helped patients live longer but it more than doubled the time before their cancer progressed or worsened.
'It also gave them more time before needing chemotherapy which is something that patients really fear and want to delay for as long as possible.'
'These results give us confidence that this treatment could become the new go-to option.'
The study was presented at the conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Breast cancer symptoms you should NEVER ignore, with Dr Philippa Kaye
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
4 hours ago
- Metro
Scientists pinpoint when humans start ‘ageing'
There comes a certain time where we start groaning trying to get ourselves off of a chair. We complain that our bodies are getting old, and we just don't have the energy that we used to. Well, researchers now say they have pinpointed exactly when we start ageing... (Picture: Getty) The new research says that we begin seriously ageing as young as 30. This is the age where our bodies begin to break down. At this time, the adrenal gland, which sits in the top of the kidneys and releases hormones vital for regulating bodily functions, begins to show changes in protein levels. The researchers found an increase in 48 disease-related proteins as tissue samples trended older. But this isn't the age when we seriously begin ageing – that's at 50 (Picture: Getty) Publishing their study in the journal Cell, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences collected tissue samples across the body's major organ systems from 76 individuals of Chinese ancestry. The samples came from those who had died from accidental brain injury and were aged between 14 to 68 (Picture: Getty) The experts discovered that certain tissues, such as blood vessels, experience ageing faster than others. The scientists also identified the proteins responsible for this accelerated process. Large changes in protein levels were spotted around the ages of 45 and 55, and one of the biggest shifts was in the aorta. Scientists suspect that blood vessels carry these age-accelerating molecules throughout the body (Picture: Getty) The authors wrote: 'Based on aging-associated protein changes, we developed tissue-specific proteomic age clocks and characterised organ-level aging trajectories. Temporal analysis revealed an aging inflection around age 50, with blood vessels being a tissue that ages early and is markedly susceptible to ageing' (Picture: Getty) This study's conclusion fits in nicely with a previous study from Stanford University which showed that humans largely experience a period of accelerated ageing at around 44 and the early 60s. Stanford University's Michael Snyder, a professor of genetics, and lead author of the study, said about the current study: 'It fits the idea that your hormonal and metabolic control are a big deal. That is where some of the most profound shifts occur as people age. We're like a car. Some parts wear out faster' (Picture: Getty) Understanding how humans age will help doctors to find ways to help us live healthy, longer lives, and to learn more about how the body experiences ageing throughout our lifetime. 'These insights may facilitate the development of targeted interventions for ageing and age-related diseases, paving the way to improve the health of older adults,' said the study authors (Picture: Getty) Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
Scottish Sun
5 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Prolonged hot weather may be fuelling rise in obesity rates, study suggests
The UK has enjoyed an early start to summer this year, with eleven 30C days so far NO WEIGH Prolonged hot weather may be fuelling rise in obesity rates, study suggests BLAME your belly on the sunshine, say scientists - as hot weather makes us gain weight. A study in Australia estimated that someone's risk of being obese increases by 0.2 per cent for every day of the year that is warmer than 30C. Sweltering summer days might slow our metabolism by wrecking our sleep, put us off exercising, and have us reaching for fattening fizzy drinks to cool off. The UK has enjoyed an early start to summer this year, with eleven 30C days so far. The Met Office says 2025 is one of only three years on record to have had so many by July – with 2018 and 1976. Research led by the University of Adelaide compared rates of obesity and weather across eight Australian states between 2006 and 2022. It found citizens in the hottest areas were more likely to be obese and as an area's temperatures increased so did the number of fat people. Writing in the journal Economics & Human Biology, the study authors said: 'High temperatures can make outdoor activities and physical activities less appealing, leading to a sedentary lifestyle which has been shown to increase obesity. 'Further, extreme temperatures can cause heat-related sleep disturbances that influence metabolism. 'Temperature shocks can also affect the body's metabolism and appetite. 'High temperatures may suppress appetite in the short term, but can also lead to increased consumption of high-calorie, sugary beverages for cooling and hydration.' Two thirds of British adults are overweight and about 30 per cent are obese, raising their risk of cancer, dementia and heart diseases. I put my 11-year-old daughter on fat jabs after she got bullied for her weight - people judge me but I don't care The researchers suggested people in areas that are normally cold – such as the UK – might be more vulnerable. They added: 'We find that the effects of extreme temperature on obesity are more pronounced for people living in states with general cold climates and for older people compared to younger people.'
Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Missing British woman disappeared in Spain holiday hotspot three days ago
A missing persons case is gaining more traction as no more information is found regarding a woman who went missing from Vera, Spain three days ago. It is unknown whether the 41-year-old was a tourist or resident. Fears are growing for a British woman who vanished from a popular Spanish resort three days ago. Jennifer Frances Lacey, 41, went missing from Vera on Monday, July 28. Her disappearance was reported by the SOS Missing Persons Association. She is described as measuring 5ft 2in and having curly brown hair, blue eyes and wears prescription glasses. Investigations are ongoing into whether Jennifer is a tourist or a resident. SOS Missing Persons is urging locals with information about his whereabouts to contact them by calling 868286726 or emailing info@ Those in Spain are also advised to call the emergency number 112. It comes after a Brit mum's 'horrendous' death after being scratched by a puppy with rabies on holiday. The British mother endured "horrendous headaches" before losing her ability to walk or speak, ultimately succumbing to rabies following a "mild scratch" from a puppy whilst on holiday, her daughter has revealed. Yvonne Ford, from Barnsley in South Yorkshire, was holidaying in Morocco with her husband in February when she encountered the stray dog that had been resting beneath her sunbed. However, due to the seemingly insignificant nature of the scratch, the 59-year-old dismissed it entirely, only falling seriously ill months later upon returning to the UK, prompting a visit to Barnsley Hospital. Her daughter Robyn Thomson described how the rabies progressed gradually, initially disrupting her mother's sleep patterns before robbing her of the ability to speak or swallow. The grandmother-of-four also began experiencing hallucinations and developed hydrophobia. She was subsequently moved to Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, where medics finally identified the rare yet devastating virus, and tragically she died on June 11. Neonatal nurse Robyn, 32, from Barnsley, described her mother as a "huge animal lover" who possessed the "biggest heart". "[Mum] was the most loving person imaginable. She had the biggest heart. She was my best friend and the most fantastic grandparent to mine and my brother's children. She was a huge animal lover so for her to have died of rabies - it is just particularly horrendous. She will be missed so dearly," she said. Robyn revealed that her mother's passing came as an enormous blow to the entire family, particularly given the lengthy period before symptoms emerged, explaining: "She and dad were on a holiday in Morocco and they were on a private beach next to the hotel. There was a puppy underneath mum's sunbed and it scratched her leg. "There was no blood and no evidence of the dog being unwell. It was such a mild scratch and it never got infected so we just thought nothing of it at the time. Mum came home and everything was normal. We went to Florida as a family and she went fishing with my dad. "But in June she came down with this horrendous headache. She was in a lot of pain so went to hospital. Soon, she couldn't sleep, she couldn't walk, she couldn't talk. She was hallucinating and had a fear of water. She couldn't swallow. She was choking on her own saliva. So doctors put her in an induced coma. "It wasn't until over a week later that she was diagnosed with rabies. There's only one outcome for rabies once symptoms develop and it's death every time. So we had to turn off her life support." The family later discovered that whilst rabies symptoms typically manifest after several months, the lethal virus can remain dormant for as long as two years.
