Breast cancer patients have been offered hope in their treatment after a study carried out across 21 countries showed that a new immunotherapy drug reduced the risk of the disease returning by more than one-third.

Results of the treatment with a drug called Keytruda, also known as pembrolizumab, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Already used to treat patients suffering from cancer of the bladder, skin and lung, it is administered via a drip and uses the patient's own immune system to fight disease.

Results shared by scientists at Queen Mary University of London looked at patients with what is known as early triple-negative breast cancer, where the disease had not yet spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes (stage II and III), who received pembrolizumab as well as the usual chemotherapy before surgery, and then were treated with pembrolizumab again afterward.

In a study lasting over three years, it was found that this combination of treatments led to a 37 percent reduction in recurrence of the disease.

"We had previously demonstrated that the addition of immunotherapy to preoperative chemotherapy increases the treatment response in patients with triple-negative breast cancer at the time of surgery," said Peter Schmid, the study lead at Queen Mary.

Long-term results

"We now have long-term results demonstrating that the combination therapy significantly reduces recurrences by approximately 37 percent, including reduction of secondary breast cancer by 39 percent. This means that the cure rate for these cancers is significantly increased."

Around 8,000 women in the United Kingdom are diagnosed each year with this particular type of breast cancer, which accounts for around 15 percent of all cases nationally.The treatment could have further benefits as it would impact on the chances of the disease spreading to other parts of the body.

"The risk of triple-negative breast cancer returning and spreading to other parts of the body in the first few years after treatment is higher than it is for other breast cancers," said Kotryna Temcinaite, senior research communications manager at charity Breast Cancer Now. "This promising new treatment could prevent more lives being lost to this devastating disease."

She also said she was hopeful that the drug could soon receive approval for use in the UK, having been approved in combination with chemotherapy by the United States' Food and Drug Administration last October.

"The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's appraisal of pembrolizumab was paused at the end of last year due to their capacity, but is expected to restart next month," she added.

"This latest research reinforces how vital it is to avoid any further delays in the assessment of this treatment, so that it can quickly reach patients on the (National Health Service) who could benefit from it."