The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved imlunestrant tosylate (Inluriyo), a daily tablet to treat certain types of breast cancer.
Inluriyo can be used to treat cancers that are locally advanced or has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic) and hasn’t responded, or has progressed further, following at least one line of hormonal treatment.
It is used when the cancer cells have oestrogen receptors (ER-positive) and do not have many receptors called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2-negative).
Inluriyo can only be used in patients who have certain changes in the ESR1 gene.
Imlunestrant binds to oestrogen receptors in the cancer cells, which breaks them down and stops them from working.
This can help kill cancer cells and slow down the growth and spread of breast cancer.
Julian Beach, interim executive director of Healthcare Quality and Access at the MHRA, said, "The approval provides a new treatment for adults with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer after prior hormone treatment hasn’t been effective."
The most common side effects with Inluriyo are increased levels of liver enzymes, tiredness, joint, bone and muscle pain, diarrhoea, increased levels of triglycerides (a type of fat in the blood), nausea and back pain.
