Breast cancer pill 'step in the right direction'

Two women who had breast cancer say a new pill which helps reduce its spread is a "step in the right direction".

Nina Barough, from Wokingham, who founded breast cancer charity Walk the Walk and Samina Hussain who runs Slough-based charity Sakoon Through Cancer said it was "heartwarming and joyful" news.

Capivasertib is used to treat incurable breast cancer and has shown to have slowed the disease down.

The twice-a-day pill, which is for the most common type of advanced breast cancer, has been approved on the NHS and could potentially benefit up to 3,000 women every year.

Ms Barough said she had had breast cancer "almost 30 years ago" and the medical advancement was "great news".

She said: "Nothing was targeted, the knowledge that there was different cancer and all the different nuances that you have today that have been identified where not identified then.

"It's just heartwarming to wake up and see this news...

"It just takes us another step further for treatments to be so efficient in helping people to live longer."

Breast cancer survivor Ms Hussain, who runs workshops and support groups for south Asian women in the Thames Valley, explained she had surgery for a lumpectomy, in which only the area of the breast with the cancer is removed.

This was followed by chemotherapy for more than six months.

"I ended up with a blood clot and I just became very isolated, very slow as an individual cognitively and physically," she said.

"There is a sense of relief, sense of joy, that actually we are moving forward with medicine.

"We are taking into account women's health and really listening to how much the side effects can destroy a person."

BBC health Correspondent Sophie Hutchinson said capivasertib was considered "groundbreaking" for some women with advanced breast cancer.

"It was designed to combat the most common type of the disease known as HR positive with a particular gene mutation.

"Trials have shown that the drug shrinks tumours in 23% of women and doubles the time treatment remains effective."

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