FDA Approves First Drug Aimed at Women With Inherited Breast Cancer (statnews.com)

U.S. regulators have approved the first drug aimed at women with advanced breast cancer caused by an inherited flawed gene. From a report: The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved AstraZeneca PLC's Lynparza for patients with inherited BRCA gene mutations who have undergone chemotherapy. The drug has been on the market since 2014 for ovarian cancer, and is the first in a new class of medicines called PARP inhibitors to be approved for breast cancer. PARP inhibitors prevent cancer cells from fixing problems in their DNA. Lynparza will cost $13,886 per month without insurance, according to AstraZeneca. The company is offering patients financial assistance.

Comments

I'm Affected and I Welcome This

[moehoward]

I'm male, but have this genetic condition. I do have female family members who have suffered greatly. Many in my close and extended family have died because of this defect. Men are affected as well, but not as badly as women. I'm at much higher risk for prostate, colon, and pancreatic cancers.

I have known about my situation for about 20 years. I have even donated to UPenn's cancer center (where this drug was developed) in the past many years. It is inspiring to see real progress and real medicine happening.

I'm not outraged at the price at all. I've visited the labs and researchers who do this work. It is so freaking complicated, messy, and heartbreaking. PARP inhibitors have been our real hope for the women in the family. One family member who died a couple of years ago was part of a trial for this class of medication.

The road to curing these diseases is very long, and this is a great step in the right direction. I'm glad to see such an uplifting story on Slashdot (for me personally).

Re:$13,886

[moehoward]

I apologize that my sarcasm was not more obvious.

In my view, the real problem with healthcare in the US is the lack of pricing transparency. You and I can have the same condition and receive the same treatment. But, zero doctors can sit and tell you upfront how much it will cost. And I don't mean that from an "its complicated" point of view. I mean that from the point of view that nobody on your airplane ride pays the same price for the same service. No college students sitting in the same classroom paid the same amount of tuition. The market is waaaaaaaaay out of whack in all of these situations because pricing has been buried behind loads of bureaucracy, paperwork, and political favors.

Re:As Curly says

[moehoward]

If being honest about this situation is shilling, then I suppose I shill quite a bit.

Go visit the researchers as I have. Go have 9 or 10 family members have a particular type of cancer as I have. Go tell your kids that they shouldn't have kids because of a genetic defect.

Do those things, and then come back and preach to me. I will listen intensively and with great fervor.