Britain’s state-run national health service will be the first in the world to offer an injection that treats cancer to hundreds of patients in England which could cut treatment times by up to three quarters.
Amajor medical breakthrough is expect to happen soon as England is going to roll out the world’s first seven-minute cancer treatment jab.
NHS said in an official statement :
“Drug treatment times for some NHS cancer patients will be slashed by up to three quarters, thanks to an anti-cancer injection that takes as little as seven minutes to administer,”.
The patients will be administer atezolizumab under the skin injection.
NHS said :
"Currently, patients receive the life-extending immunotherapy atezolizumab (Tencentriq) in hospital directly into their veins via a drug transfusion. It usually takes around 30 minutes to administer intravenous atezolizumab, but for some patients this can be up to an hour when it can be difficult to access a vein,".
Now, the drug will be given under the skin.
What is Atezolizumab?
This is an immunotherapy drug that enables one’s immune system to trace and destroy the cancerous cells.
This is currently being given to patients with cancer in lungs, breast, liver, and bladder.
NHS England said atezolizumab, also known as Tecentriq, is usually given to patients intravenously, directly into their veins via a drip, which could often take around 30 minutes or up to an hour for some patients when it can be difficult to access a vein.
The drug is made by Genentech, a Roche (ROG.S) company.
It is anticipate the majority of the approximately 3,600 patients starting treatment of atezolizumab annually in England will switch to the time-saving injection.
As the shorter duration of the drug administration proves to be promising, while health experts are happy that this will be helpful in freeing up valuable time for NHS cancer teams.
NHS National Director for Cancer Professor Peter Johnson said :
“The world-first introduction of this treatment will mean that hundreds of patients can spend less time at the hospital and will free up valuable time in NHS chemotherapy units,”.
