Roche: The word ‘cure’ can now be used for cancer

Roche’s head of pharmaceuticals said to talk of curing some types of cancer may be becoming a realistic proposition, at the same time as the company’s half-yearly results were released.

The company revealed its cancer medicines sold particularly strongly, while general pharmaceutical sales increased by more than 19 per cent – three times the global average.

The Herceptin manufacturer said that oncology drug sales went up by 48 per cent, with increased sales for MabThera, Avastin and Herceptin.

Confident in the ability of drugs like Herceptin to provide vastly improved prognoses for cancer patients, William Burns, Roche’s head of pharmaceuticals, told analysts that curing some types of cancer may not merely be a pipe dream.

He is quoted by Reuters as saying: “There is a quantum leap here. The word ‘cure’ can start to come into the discussions on non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, for some people, and for breast cancer for ladies with early-stage HER2-positive [breast cancer].”

Roche’s chairman and chief executive officer, Franz B Humer, added: “We are developing many of our marketed products for additional indications that will help fuel future growth for the Roche Group.”

Recent data released for Herceptin, the breast cancer drug, found that women treated with the drug in the early stages of HER-2-positive breast cancer following standard chemotherapy demonstrated a 34 per cent reduction in the risk of death.

Last month, NICE released draft guidance for Herceptin, saying the drug was recommended for use in patients with early-stage HER-2-positive breast cancer. The drug has already been used for some years as a treatment for advanced breast cancer.

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