The hours that some patients spend receiving breast cancer chemotherapy in hospital is being reduced to five minutes, it has been announced.
NHS England said it had approved the use of the PHESGO combined injection.
It is expected to benefit about 3,600 patients a year with HER2-positive disease, sparing them two hours or more spent receiving chemotherapy infusions.
NHS England said the change had been triggered by the pandemic – as it will reduce the infection risk faced by patients waiting in hospital. Some hospitals began using the treatment in February.
The treatment combines pertuzumab with trastuzumab.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: “This new injection, which can substantially cut treatment time for people with breast cancer, is the latest in a series of changes which have meant the NHS has been able to deliver vital cancer treatment while keeping patients safe from Covid.
“I am delighted that this is now available to people having breast cancer treatment, limiting the time they need to spend in hospital and giving the NHS another way to continue treating as many cancer patients as possible, as we have done throughout the pandemic.”
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