Latest news with #medics
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Stop denying thousands of women with incurable breast cancer wonder drug that could boost survival almost 50%, NHS urged
A lifeline drug currently denied to thousands of women with incurable breast cancer could boost survival by almost 50 per cent, pivotal new research has suggested. Medics hailed the drug Enhertu after the trial showed it could extend the lives of patients with one of the hardest to treat forms of the disease, buying them an extra year or more of life. Campaigners said the new findings add to the 'betrayal' that they cannot get the life-extending treatment on the NHS in England or Wales when it is already available in Scotland. It follows repeated decisions by NHS spending watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to deny the 'wonder drug' on cost grounds using new criteria which does not class all terminal cancers as 'severe'. Also known as trastuzumab deruxtecan, it is a targeted treatment for patients with a an aggressive and fast-growing type of cancer, known as HER2-positive—accounting for roughly one in five cases of the disease. Researchers presenting the findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago said it showed Enhertu was a 'highly effective' drug that should become the first port of call for patients with this form of breast cancer. In the trial, women taking the drug alongside another treatment called pertuzumab, lived without their cancer growing for 40.7 months on average, compared to just 26.9 among those who took standard treatment—the drug trastuzumab and pertuzumab. Enhertu slashed the risk of death or the disease progressing by 44 per cent, they added. After two years, around 70 per cent of patients on the new combination had not seen their cancer grow or spread, compared to around 52 per cent on standard treatment. For those who had received the combination, 85 per cent saw their cancer shrink or disappear compared to 78.6 per cent in the standard treatment group. Dr Sara Tolaney, head of breast oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and study lead author, said: 'This trial has the potential to establish a new first line treatment for advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, a setting which hasn't seen significant innovation in more than a decade. Trastuzumab deruxtecan is a 'highly effective' and 'promising' therapy, she added. Around 1,000 women each year in England could benefit from the drug, which patients described as 'the last roll of the dice'. Last year, after NICE prevented the drug from receiving NHS funding—a decision the charity Breast Cancer Now called 'a dark day for women with incurable breast cancer'—one 46-year-old patient told how Enhertu would give her more time with her seven-year-old daughter Grace. Former marketing professional, Kathryn Hulland, who lives in Devon, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 and underwent chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumour. She responded well, but at Christmas 2022 she found a lump on her neck and was told her cancer had returned and spread. Checking your breasts should be part of your monthly routine so you notice any unusual changes. Simply rub and feel from top to bottom, in semi-circles and in a circular motion around your breast tissue to identify any abnormalities She said: 'If my chemo stops working, there won't be many treatments left.' She added: 'Six months more with her would mean the world. It's heartbreaking that patients in Scotland can get it, but I can't. It's a lifeline I can't reach.' Following NICE's decision, in an unusual move the watchdog hit out at AstraZeneca, the British firm who manufactures Enhertu, accusing it of being 'unwilling to offer a fair price'. But the pharmaceutical giant said the drug—believed to cost about £120,000 a year per patient—was available in 18 other European countries, including Scotland. Breast cancer specialist and author Dr Liz O'Riordan told MailOnline today: 'This trial yet again shows the huge benefits Enhertu can offer women, giving them vital extra months and years. 'This postcode lottery is so unfair. It's a betrayal to patients in England and Wales that they cannot access Enhertu, when it is already available in Scotland. 'What more will it take for it to be approved.' Dr Catherine Elliott, director of research at Cancer Research UK, meanwhile told MailOnline: 'Treatments that target HER2-positive metastatic breast cancers have transformed outcomes for many people but most still see their cancer progress within two years of starting treatment. 'These trial results suggest that adding Enhertu to the standard treatment could prevent or slow the growth of this type of breast cancer beyond three years. 'Importantly, people given this treatment were also more likely to see their tumour shrink or disappear.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Man dead after driving Kia into Ohio construction zone
A man is dead after crashing his vehicle into an Ohio construction zone early Sunday morning. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Deputies responded at around 5 a.m. to a crash in Franklin County in the 1600 block of North Hague Avenue, according to our news partner, WBNS in Columbus. TRENDING STORIES: 81-year-old man drowns in home pool 3 accused of using $600K in stolen SNAP benefits to buy bulk amounts of candy, energy drinks in Ohio Local woman to attempt English Channel swim this week A Silver Kia went through a road closed barrier, struck a pile of gravel, went airborne, hit an excavator, and came to rest on an excavator bucket and sewer hole support wall, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office said. Upon arrival, medics saw a car sitting over a large hole that had been dug to install a sewer, WBNS said. Medics removed the driver from the Kia. They pronounced the driver dead at the scene. No one else was in the occupant at the time of the crash, WBNS reported. The crash remains under investigation. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- General
- Bloomberg
Dozens Killed After Attack Near Aid Stations in Gaza
Dozens of people were killed near two aid-distribution stations in the Gaza Strip, the latest setback to a new humanitarian relief operation backed by Israel and the US as a way of sidelining Hamas. Medics and witnesses claimed Israeli forces had fired on Palestinians massed near the stations in southern Rafah and the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza on Sunday, accusations that were categorically denied by the Israel Defense Forces.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Yahoo
Officers, medics respond after person reportedly stabbed in Dayton
Officers and medics responded to a reported stabbing in Dayton early Tuesday. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Dayton police were called just after 1:15 a.m. to the 800 block of Oakleaf Drive on reports of a stabbing, according to a Montgomery County Regional Dispatch supervisor. TRENDING STORIES: Deputy shot, killed while responding to domestic call in Ohio Authorities called to reports of shots fired near Montgomery County apartment complex 2 arrested after burglary investigation in area county Dispatchers told News Center 7 that officers and medics responded to a report that a male had been stabbed. His condition is currently unknown. News Center 7 is working to learn what happened and if anyone is in custody. We will update this developing story. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Khaleej Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza as criticism of Israel grows
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 50 Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, local medics said, as Israel continues its bombardment despite mounting international pressure to stop military operations and allow aid into Gaza unimpeded. The strikes fell across Gaza, and medics in the territory said that among the sites hit were two homes where women and children were among the 18 dead, and a school housing displaced families. Israel's military, which on Monday warned those in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis to evacuate to the coast as it prepared for an " unprecedented attack", had no immediate comment. In Gaza City, Reuters footage showed men, women and children sifting through the rubble of the Daraj neighbourhood school where they had been sheltering, and where charred pieces of clothing and a red teddy bear lay among scattered belongings. At the nearby Al Ahli Hospital men performed prayers over bodies wrapped in white shrouds before carrying them to their graves. "What is our fault? What is the fault of children? What is the fault of the women we found on the stairs with their hair and clothes torn and burned?" said Omar Ahel, who had been sheltering at the school. "By God, this is injustice." Israeli strikes have killed more than 500 people in the past eight days as the military campaign has intensified, medics in Gaza say. Israel's ground and air war has devastated coastal territory, displacing nearly all its 2.3 million residents and killing more than 53,000, according to Gaza health authorities. The campaign began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities near Gaza's border in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. 'Everything's empty' The war has strained Israel's relations with much of the international community and those with its closest ally, the United States, now appear to be wavering. After Israel imposed a blockade of food and other supplies beginning March 2, Gaza has also been facing a critical risk of famine, a UN-backed hunger monitor said earlier this month. On Monday, Israel allowed nine trucks into Gaza, and on Tuesday the United Nations said it had received permission from Israel for about 100 aid trucks to enter. The UN has long said Gaza needs at least 500 trucks of aid and commercial goods every day. Throughout the war, trucks with aid have waited weeks and months at Gaza's border to enter. Louise Wateridge, a spokesperson for the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said on Tuesday there was little food left. "Everything's empty. The warehouses, the distribution centres, they've been empty for weeks," she said, speaking from a warehouse in Jordan that she said had food for 200,000 people, which could be driven to Gaza in just a few hours. The leaders of Britain, France and Canada warned on Monday they could take "concrete actions" against Israel if it did not stop military operations in Gaza and lift restrictions on aid. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told French radio on Tuesday that there was a growing call from some countries, including France, to review a long-standing association agreement with Israel. Aid must be "immediate, massive and without any hindrance," he said. Relations soured Relations between Israel and France have soured, with Paris suggesting it could recognise a Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently opposes Palestinian statehood. Netanyahu said his country was engaged in a "war of civilisation over barbarism" and vowed it would "continue to defend itself by just means until total victory". He has said Israel aims to control the whole of Gaza. Yair Golan, former deputy chief of staff of Israel's military and current leader of the opposition centre-left Democrats party, told local Kan Radio that Israel risked becoming a pariah state. "A sane country does not engage in combat against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not pursue goals of population expulsion," he said. His comments drew a sharp backlash from the prime minister, who accused Golan of "echoing the most contemptible antisemitic blood libels" against Israel and the military. The military issued its own statement saying that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir condemns any statement casting doubt on the values of the military and the morality of its soldiers. Israel's leadership has insisted that it can free the hostages and dismantle Hamas through force. Hamas has said it would release the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and the release of Palestinians in Israeli jails.
