A Westcountry hospital is taking part in an international study to test a new drug said to improve survival rates by a third in breast cancer.
Doctors at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Trelikse, Truro (RCHT) are trialling pertuzumab, made by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche.
It is designed to help HER2-positive breast cancer patients which accounts for 25% of the disease.
If the European Medicines Agency give approval it will go on the market in March.
Data released today showed patients taking a combination of pertuzumab and the drug trastuzumab – also made by Roche – and chemotherapy survived longer.
Dr Duncan Wheatley, Clinical Oncologist,(RCHT) said: "These data are particularly exciting because it is rare to see a treatment that gives a meaningful survival benefit to advanced HER2-positive breast cancer patients, without significantly increasing the side effects associated with the current standard of care.
"This will translate into a longer life for patients and if approved, the treatment will likely be the new gold standard in advanced HER2-positive breast cancer."
