Breast cancer drug only on NHS in Scotland

A BREAST cancer drug being withdrawn in England because of its cost will be made available on the NHS in Scotland.

Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison said the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), the body which approves drugs for use by the health service, had made a “good decision” in permitting Kadcyla.

The drug can give patients dying from an aggressive form of breast cancer extra months of life, with more than 13,000 women signing a petition calling for it to be made routinely available.

More than 4,600 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Scotland each year, with the disease responsible for about 1,000 deaths annually.

Up to 118 women each year could now benefit from Kadcyla, according to health campaigners at Breast Cancer Now.

Ms Robison said: “I know there will be many patients who will be pleased and will benefit from Kadcyla now being available through the NHS and I’ve certainly met a number of women who have been on Kadcyla and who have wanted to be, and now this approval has been made, the clinical decisions of who will be appropriate means many women will benefit.

“I think around 100 women will benefit a year, and that’s good news.”

The SMC’s decision comes after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) in England published final draft guidance late last year saying Kadcyla is not set at an affordable price.

The drug will be removed from the NHS south of the border in June – a decision which has prompted a fierce backlash.