‘Life-extending’ cancer drug to be available inWales
WELSH cancer patients are set to have access to a drug declared “one of the biggest breakthroughs in almost 20 years” in improving life expectancy.
Opdivo, also known as nivolumab, is now available for NHS patients in Wales with advanced lung cancer and advanced head and neck cancer.
The potentially life-extending immunotherapy treatment, which harnesses the ability of the immune system to fight cancer, will be funded via the New Treatment Fund (NTF) in Wales.
Clinical trials have shown it to triple life expectancy for some cancer patients over 12 months.
Dr Jason Lester, consultant clinical oncologist at Velindre Cancer Centre, in Cardiff, said the news marks “a significant step forward” for patients with these two types of cancer.
“Nivolumab is a potentially lifeextending medicine that has shown it can significantly increase survival and provide an improvement in quality of life compared to chemotherapy in these cancers,” he said.
“The recommendation is great news for the thousands of patients in Wales who are diagnosed with these difficult-to-treat cancers every year.
“The hope is that with immunotherapy medicines like nivolumab we will start to shift survival expectations.”
In 2015 both lung and head and neck cancer were among the most common cancers in Wales.
About 2,300 people were diagnosed with all stages and types of lung cancer and 640 with head and neck cancer in Wales in 2014.
The approval for nivolumab comes following guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
It is recommended for adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following chemotherapy and adult patients with squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (SCCHN) who have progressed on or after platinumbased therapy.
Clinical trial data showed that nivolumab nearly tripled overall 12-month survival in NSCLC patients – up from 6% to 16% – when compared with chemotherapy medication docetaxel.
Chris Curtis, chairman of head and neck cancer support group The Swallows, said: “We welcome the news that cancer patients in Wales will now have access to this potentially life-extending treatment.”
Benjamin Hickey, general manager of pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb UK and Ireland, said: “We have worked closely with the Welsh Government and we are delighted that it has recommended nivolumab in these cancers.”