Cancer drug U-turn

The NHS drugs evaluator Nice has announced a U-turn on the use of a lifeextending breast cancer treatment for terminally ill patients in England. To the outrage of many patient groups, Kadcyla (trastuzumab emtansine) had been rejected for routine use on the NHS on cost-benefit grounds: it costs £90,000 per patient, on average, and extends life by almost six months. But following negotiations with the drug’s maker, Roche, which are believed to have cut the price to about £50,000 per patient, Nice has decided that it should be made available to women with Her2-positive cancer that has spread and cannot be treated surgically. Some 1,200 woman a year are now likely to benefit from the drug. Younger women are disproportionately affected by Her2-positive cancer, and around 115,000 people had signed a petition calling for Kadcyla to be made available to NHS patients.