MP’s call to improve patient access to cancer drugs

AWearsideMPiscallingonthe Government and drug companies to provide more access to drugsforpatientswhoarefighting deadly illnesses.

Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Sunderland West, has spoken of the plight of women and men living with incurable breast cancer by making the case for better access to cancer drugs for patients in England, at a meeting in Parliament.

Organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer (APPGBC) in response to January’s backbench debate on access to Kadcyla and other breast cancer drugs, the meeting sought to bring together parliamentarians, patients and other figures to discuss how access to vital drugs can be improved.

Followinganumberofhighprofile drug rejections in the last 12 months, the meeting provided an opportunity for patientsandMPstodiscussthe current availability of breast cancer treatments with representatives from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), NHS England as well as pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Roche.

The discussion focused on the provisional rejections of the breast cancer drugs Kadcyla and palbociclib, as well as the future availability of Perjeta.

With just three out of the last 13 breast cancer treatment appraisals resulting in positive recommendations, and cancer outcomes in England continuing to lag behind the rest of Europe, it was also a chance to address wider issues of the drug appraisal system, the newly reformed Cancer Drugs Fund and the role of pharma in improving access to treatments.

Following the meeting, Ms Hodgson said: “We have seen great strides for patient’s access to cancer drugs since the introduction of the Cancer Drugs Fund, but this progress is at threat of being undermined if access to cancer drugs is not improved.”