Patients in England with a specific type of incurable breast cancer can now access a life-extending drug on the NHS, two years after it was deemed too expensive by a health body.
Enhertu can give patients almost seven extra months to live on average – with some living up to three years longer.
Women in Scotland have had access to the drug on the NHS since 2023, and it is available in 26 other European countries.
Charities and patients have campaigned for it to be more widely available since 2024, when the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said Enhertu was not good value for money.
From Thursday, doctors in England are now able to prescribe it, with Wales expected to follow shortly but the guidance doesn’t automatically apply to Northern Ireland.
Health Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Enhertu can be life-changing, and this recommendation means NHS patients will finally be able to benefit from it.
“It is a tribute to the campaigners and charities who never stopped pressing for this.”
This decision will affect about 1,000 women a year with a specific type of breast cancer, HER2-low.
Charity Breast Cancer Now said that while campaigners’ “persistence paid off”, thousands of people have missed out on access to Enhertu and many have died.
The charity’s chief executive, Claire Rowney, said: “Today we can finally say we did it.” However, she adds that “we can’t celebrate this momentous decision without remembering the devastating cost of this delay”.
Kate Wills, 51, understands this mix of emotions. She has HER2-low metastatic breast cancer, which has spread to her bones and lungs. But nothing about her suggests that she is terminally ill.
She has a high-powered job and is a wife and mum. Her social media feed shows a full and happy life – only the occasional medical appointment hints all is not well.
Kate says it has been “incredibly painful” to know that Enhertu could keep her alive for longer but she couldn’t get it.