Doctors in the U.S. report unusually good results from tests of two experimental drugs (Ribociclib and Fulvestrant) in women with an aggressive form of breast cancer that had spread widely and resisted many previous treatments.

One drug showed particular ability to reach tumours in the brain, which are notoriously tough to treat.

The other pairs a sort of homing device for cancer cells with a payload of chemotherapy that’s released when it reaches its target.

Results were disclosed at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The women had tried on average six previous treatments before the experimental drug.

Different doses were tested, and 184 women got what turned out to be the best one.

Among those women, 61 per cent saw their tumours shrink at least 30 per cent.

In six per cent of them, no signs of cancer were seen in at least two followup scans.

(The Associated Press)