NHS rejects new drug that stalls breast tumours

A BREAST cancer drug which stalls the disease by three months has been rejected by NHS rationing bodies.

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said there was a lack of evidence to prove that the drug, called fulvestrant, extended lives.

Some trials have suggested it could extend survival by more than five months for women whose cancer has spread. But Nice said there were weaknesses in such research. While trials showed the drug stalls the cancer’s growth by around three months, there was a lack of good evidence that this extended survival times, it said.

The drug costs £500 a month, compared with costs of just pennies for anastrozole and letrozole, which are currently prescribed for such cases.

Around 1,200 women a year could have been eligible for the drug, which is licensed for women with oestrogen-receptor positive cancer, who have not had other forms of hormonal treatment.

Charities last night said the decision was “very disappointing”. They also criticised NHS systems which mean the drug will not be funded while further research is carried out.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin, the chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: “This is very disappointing news. New options for women with this type of breast cancer are long overdue, and, while fulvestrant’s ultimate survival benefit remains uncertain, it offers a valuable advance in treatment.”

The stalling of disease could allow some women to delay chemotherapy, improving the quality of their lives when time was precious, she said.

And she said NHS rationing processes meant the drug had been left “in a position where it cannot win.”