NICE approves trastuzumab for early stage breast cancer

Trastuzumab (Herceptin) should be used to treat women with early stage HER2 positive breast cancer except where there are concerns about cardiac function, says draft guidance for England and Wales and separate guidance for Scotland published last week.

The draft guidance was published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the body that advises on use of treatments by the NHS, only two weeks after the drug was licensed for use in early breast cancer.

It recommends the drug as a treatment option for women with early stage HER2 positive breast cancer after surgery, chemotherapy (whether neoadjuvant or adjuvant), and radiotherapy (if applicable). Trastuzumab should be given at intervals of …