‘Game-changer’ drug for cancer approved

in Scotland with advanced ovarian cancer will be offered a lifeextending drug on the NHS for the first time.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has approved niraparib, a pill that works by stopping cancer cells from repairing themselves, effectively crippling them.

In Scotland, a woman dies every day from ovarian cancer, with around 580 cases diagnosed every year.

The new drug can stop the disease from progressing for up to 15 months in 0 Annwen Jones: ‘We’re taking the fight to ovarian cancer’

patients who have recurrent cancer.

New targeted treatments, so-called because they exploit specific weaknesses in cancer cells, are almost unheard of in ovarian cancer – just two have been approved for use by the SMC before now.

Health campaigners say the decision is a “game-changer” for women with metastatic ovarian cancer in Scotland.

Niraparib is the first time a breakthrough drug has been made available to women with recurrent ovarian cancer on a mass scale.

Annwen Jones, chief executive of Target Ovarian Cancer, said: “Today’s announcement is a game-changer in ovarian cancer and shows that Scotland is leading the way in access to new ovarian cancer drugs. With niraparib, we’re taking the fight to ovarian cancer.

“We know that, with the right investment in new treatments, more women can and will survive this disease. Today is a critical first step in making that a reality.”

Catherine Clotworthy, 63, of Kilmaurs, East Ayrshire, has been taking niraparib for 10 months via an expanded access scheme.

She said: “When I was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014, I was so shocked – I’d been having problems with digestion and with my tummy for years but I never thought it could be cancer.

“The cancer is advanced but last October I started taking niraparib and now I can see a future for myself.

“I had such a fear of cancer but now I have a chance to live with it. I believe all women living with this disease should have that too.”