New drug could stop breast cancer tumours before they grow, trial finds
By Reuters, June 1, 2025Cancer Research UK says that breast cancer is the most common type of cancer, with around 56,400 women and around 390 men diagnosed in the UK each year.
A new drug could stop some breast cancer tumours from using hormones to grow, a trial has found.
Results from the Serena-6 trial, carried out with the Institute of Cancer Research in London, suggest that using camizestrant could help patients stay well longer and delay the need for chemotherapy.
According to Cancer Research UK, the drug works by blocking oestrogen from getting into the breast cancer cells, which researchers hope can then stop or slow the growth of cancer.
Breast cancer patients given the drug in the trial reduced their chances of the disease progressing by 52% compared to standard therapies.
Professor Kristian Helin, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, said the results “represent more than a clinical milestone; they represent a transformational shift in how we approach precision medicine”.
AstraZeneca
Co-principal investigator Professor Nick Turner also called the development of the drug “a pivotal moment in breast cancer care”.
The study, funded by AstraZeneca, looked at patients with hormone-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer – about 70% of cases.
More than 3,000 patients from 23 countries took part in phase three of the trial, which saw doctors use blood tests to detect changes in the cancer’s DNA to see which treatments were ineffective.
For those taking camizestrant, their cancer stabilised for around 16 months on average, compared with about nine months for other treatments.
However, 1% of patients taking the new drug stopped taking it because of side effects.
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