Breast Cancer Now Forum

Hi all, My name is Sukhi, and I work in Breast Cancer Now’s Policy team. Following on from Holly’s post below, I am looking to hear views from people from across the UK with experience of the drug treatment abemaciclib (Verzenios) with hormone therapy for treating hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative, node positive primary breast cancer after surgery The treatment was approved for use on the NHS in England earlier this year, which is great news, and now the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) is assessing whether it can be made available on the NHS in Scotland. We will be involved at every step to ensure eligible patients will be able to access this treatment and the first stage is submitting written evidence to the SMC. You can help shape our input into Scotland’s assessment of this treatment by sharing your experience. Any views will be shared anonymously with the SMC. If you have experience of the treatment, please contact policy@breastcancernow.org by Monday 26 September 2022. You can choose how to share your experience and views, for example, you could answer a couple of questions over email, or we can arrange a short call at a time that suits you. Many thanks,  Sukhi  ... View more

Hi Liz,  Thank you so much for your message.  If you do start this treatment, it wouldn't be too late share your views, as there are several stages of the drug assessment process so we may be able to reflect on any views you share, later in the process. It would be so helpful to hear your experience, to make sure the voices of people affected by breast cancer are heard, so If you do start on this treatment, please feel free to email me at Policy@breastcancernow.org. Thanks again,  Sukhi    ... View more

Hi all, Just to let you know there’s still time to share your experience with us of the medicine pembrolizumab (also known as Keytruda) when used in combination with chemotherapy specifically for the treatment of certain patients with locally recurrent inoperable or secondary triple negative breast cancer who have not had prior chemotherapy. The treatment is approved for use on the NHS in England, and the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) is currently assessing whether it can be made available on the NHS in Scotland. We will be attending a meeting with the SMC in August to put forward the views of people affected by breast cancer. If you have experience of the drug and want to help shape our input, please contact me at policy@breastcancernow.org by 25 July 2022. You can share your experience by answering a couple of questions over email, or we can arrange a short call at a time that suits you. Many thanks, Sukhi ... View more

Hi Angie, Thank you so much for your post. I just wanted to make you aware, in case you are not already, that Breast Cancer Now has a Helpline, which is run by breast cancer nurses, and trained staff. You are most welcome to call them if you have any questions. The free phone number is 0808 800 6000 and the opening hours are: Monday to Friday — 9am to 4pm Saturday — 9am to 1pm Many thanks and best wishes, Sukhi ... View more

Hi all,  Just a reminder that we're still looking to hear from people with experience of the drug pembrolizumab (also known as Keytruda) given in combination with chemotherapy specifically for the treatment of certain patients with locally recurrent inoperable or secondary triple negative breast cancer who have not had prior chemotherapy. If you are interested in sharing your experience, please contact me on policy@breastcancernow.org. You can share your experience by answering a couple of questions over email, or we can arrange a short call at a time that suits you.  Thanks,  Sukhi  ... View more

Hi Adele10, Thanks so much for getting in touch, and for offering to share your experience. Please feel free to email me at policy@breastcancernow.org. I can then send over a couple of questions to you. Many thanks, Sukhi ... View more

Hi yvettep12, Thanks very much for getting in touch. Yes, that’s right, the treatment you mention is different and already routinely available for use on the NHS. Many thanks, and best wishes, Sukhi ... View more

Hi all, Just a reminder that we are still looking for people with experience of palbociclib with fulvestrant for treating hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, secondary breast cancer. If you are interested in sharing your experience of the treatment, please do get in touch at policy@breastcancernow.org. Many thanks! Sukhi  ... View more

Hi Lesley123, Thank you so much for getting in touch and sharing your story. It would be great to learn a bit more about your experience with the treatment, so if you are interested, please do email me at policy@breastcancernow.org.  Thanks again for sharing your experience. Best wishes, Sukhi ... View more

Hi Windflower, Thanks very much for sharing your experience. Yes, please do let me know how you get on with the treatment, and don’t worry about the deadline as we may still be able to use your experience to inform our future work. Feel free to contact me at policy@breastcancernow.org. Best of luck with the treatment! Best wishes, Sukhi ... View more