By Mya Blake

Arimidex has been approved in the UK to treat post-menopausal breast cancer patients

It has been reported that the UK has cleared a cancer drug created by Astrazeneca to be used to treat cancer patients. The drug is called Arimidex and will be used to treat breast cancer in post-menopausal women. The drug is taken orally once daily and will be offered to women who have not responded to other treatments.

In various clinical trials, Arimidex was proven to be more effective than tamoxifen, which is a current breast cancer treatment drug. It works by slowing down the body's production of estrogen thus slowing down the growth of cancer.

Britain, Germany, Portugal, Italy and Spain have also been granted permission to begin marketing the drug, a drug that will be now competing against treatments manufactured by drug manufacturing giants Novartis AG and Pfizer Inc.