Monday, March 21, 2016

Patients with Prostate Cancer in England will now have early access to Zytiga

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) now agrees that abiraterone is affordable.
It had previously said the treatment was not cost-effective for the NHS until cancers were more advanced.
The drug costs £3,000 a month, but a lower price has been agreed with the manufacturer Janssen.
Janssen also submitted fresh data about the drug's effectiveness to NICE.
Abiraterone, also known as Zytiga, is a hormone therapy, and unlike chemotherapy which kills the cancerous cells, it stops more testosterone from reaching the prostate gland to stifle the tumor.
Instead, patients in England had to rely on their doctors applying to the Cancer Drugs Fund, a special pot set aside for cancer drugs not routinely available on the NHS.
Now NICE says the new evidence submitted by Janssen means it can offer the drug to more patients - those with spreading prostate cancer who have only mild symptoms and who have not responded to androgen deprivation therapy and have not yet been offered chemotherapy.
It is estimated that 5,900 people with this category of prostate cancer might be eligible each year in England.
Prof Carole Longson, from NICE, said: "There are few treatments available for patients at this stage of prostate cancer so this is very good news."
Heather Blake, from Prostate Cancer UK, said: "This long awaited decision is fantastic news and brings an end to years of uncertainty for men and their loved ones. After 18 months our calls have finally been heard as NICE and the manufacturer have managed to negotiate a way forward. However it cannot continue to take so ludicrously long to get men what they need."

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