The U.S. Food and Drug Administration just approved Nerlynx (neratinib) for the extended adjuvant treatment of early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer. For patients with this type of cancer, Nerlynx is the first extended adjuvant therapy, a form of therapy that is taken after an initial treatment to further lower the risk of the cancer coming back. Nerlynx is for adult patients who have been previously treated with a regimen that includes the drug trastuzumab.

HER2-positive breast cancers are aggressive tumors and can spread to other parts of the body, making adjuvant therapy an important part of the treatment plan. Now these patients have an option to prevent this from happening.

Below are stats taken from the Canadian Cancer Society:

It is estimated that in 2017:

• 26,300 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. This represents 25% of all new cancer cases in women in 2017.
• 5,000 women will die from breast cancer. This represents 13% of all cancer deaths in women in 2017.
• On average, 72 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every day.
• On average, 14 Canadian women will die from breast cancer every day.
• 230 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 60 will die from breast cancer.

Nerlynx is a kinase inhibitor that works by blocking several enzymes that promote cell growth.  After two years of doing the study for Nerlynx, 94.2 percent of patients treated  had not experienced cancer recurrence or death.