A study shows that a new treatment could significantly increase survival rates in patients with aggressive, hereditary breast cancer.

The trial, led by the Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge and published in Nature Communications, involves women with early stage breast cancer that inherits mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes.

Give them the targeted drug Olaparib before the surgery greatly reduces the chances of cancer.

If larger clinical trials can confirm these findings, more than 1,200 patients in the UK each year can benefit from changes in practice.

Jackie Van Bochoven, 59, from Cambridgeshire, has a family history of breast cancer and has a wrong copy of the BRCA1 gene, which significantly increased her risk of the disease over her life.

She was diagnosed with an aggressive breast tumor in 2019 and participated in the trial.

"I was shocked when I had a diagnosis," she told BBC News.

"Six years, I'm fine, no cancer. It's amazing."

Jackie's mother and sister both suffer from breast cancer. She has three daughters, and her eldest son, Danielle, also carries the inherited BRCA gene mutation.

"For my offspring, if they have the BRCA gene, that's a new hope," Jackie said.

In the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, about 400 people carry mutations.

The UK Cancer Research estimates that about seven out of 10 women with these genetic changes will develop breast cancer, while one in 7 women without these mutations.

For men with BRCA mutations, the risk of breast cancer is much lower.

Olaparib is the first targeted drug treatment for cancers with a BRCA gene mutation and is administered as a tablet. It causes cancer cells to die by blocking cancer cells from repairing the action of their DNA by blocking a protein called PARP.

The trial, called Partners, was held at 23 locations in England, Scotland and Wales. Before the surgery, 39 women with early breast cancer were given Olaparib, also known as Lynparza, with chemotherapy.

48 hours after each chemotherapy, they started using Olaparib tablets. Three years later, everyone survived.

By comparison, 45 women in the study received chemotherapy before surgery, but no olaparib occurred.

Professor Jean Abraham, the vice president who presided over the trial and professor of precision breast cancer medicine at the University of Cambridge, said the result was “really exciting.”

"It is rare to see this breast cancer subtype 100% survive at 36 months. We are very excited about the potential of this new approach."

These findings have the potential to apply to other cancers associated with BRCA, such as the ovaries, prostate and pancreas. ”

Professor Abraham said a larger transnational trial is planned next year, involving about 600 patients. She predicts that if repeated discoveries are found, this will lead to significant changes in clinical practice in more than 1,200 patients in the UK every year.

Currently, Olaparib is given one year after the surgery, while in the trial, the patient took the tablet for 12 weeks and took the tablet at half the dose.

Professor Abraham said: "From a cost perspective, this will save a lot of money for the NHS because it is a small part of the time and dose of the drug."

"While the study is still in its infancy, the exciting finding is that adding Olaparib in a carefully timed treatment phase can allow patients with this specific type of breast cancer to get along more with their loved ones," said Michelle Mitchell, CEO of Cancer Research UK.