Brazil receives batch of medicine to treat breast cancer in SUS

The received, this Monday (13), the first batch of the drug trastuzumab emtansine, incorporated into the Unified Health System (), in 2022, for the treatment of . The medicine is indicated for those who still have the disease after initial chemotherapy, generally in cases of HER2-positive stage 3 breast cancer, the ministry said.

In this first shipment, 11,978 units arrived. In total, there will be four batches of the medicine, with the next deliveries scheduled for December this year, March and June next year. According to the ministry, the inputs will meet 100% of the current demand for the medicine in the SUS. Still in 2025, 1,144 patients should benefit.

The medicine will be passed on to the state health departments, which will distribute it in accordance with current clinical protocols. The federal government’s total investment is R$159.3 million for the purchase of 34,400 vials of the medicine.

The director of the Cancer Care Department of the Ministry of Health, José Barreto Campello Carvalheira, spoke to the press, at the place where the shipment was received, in the (SP) warehouse.

“The advance for national oncology is gigantic. It is a medication that will reduce the mortality of patients who are HER2-positive, which is a type of breast cancer, by 50%. It is a great victory for the Brazilian people. The Ministry of Health is proud to be able to make this delivery today within Pink October”, said the director.

“In patients who have tumor remains, in breast cancer, you can place [esse medicamento] now available for a new treatment. It guarantees a 50% reduction in mortality, 50% less local recurrence, it’s really a big step forward, it’s a reduction in mortality”, he explained. According to Carvalheira, the drug is expected to reach patients starting this month, by the beginning of November.

*With information from Agência Brasil

Published by Nátaly Tenório