New early breast cancer drug now approved in Malaysia

Nerlynx, (neratinib), a new breast cancer drug shown to significantly reduce the risk of cancer recurrence, is now approved for use in Malaysia.

The drug is an oral medication taken by women with breast cancer who have had surgery, chemotherapy and prior trastuzumab-based therapy and was also recently approved in Singapore by the HSA.

It has been shown to significantly reduce the ongoing risk of recurrence in HER2+ early breast cancer patients, with the greatest benefit seen in women who are also hormone-receptor positive (HR+) and who commence therapy within 12 months of completing trastuzumab-based therapy. For these women, the five-year risk of recurrence is reduced by up to 42%.