Breast Cancer Cure News 2017: NICE Rejects Drug That Can Stall Disease Growth
The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has rejected a breast cancer drug that can stall the growth of the disease for three months due to "uncertain" benefits.
The drug in question is fulvestrant by AstraZeneca. NICE put together a draft guide where they pointed out the lack of enough evidence that it can extend the overall life expectancy of the patients.
Fulvestrant, also known as Faslodex, managed to defer the cancer growth by three months and some trials even showed it can prolong survival by five months. However, NICE said that the evidence is not sufficient.
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NICE director of the center for health technology evaluation Professor Carole Longson had this to say in elaborating their decision:
There is a need for more effective treatments for locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer to delay the need for chemotherapy and to extend survival. But NICE has to ensure that the NHS provides treatments that bring benefits which are value for money. As fulvestrant has not been shown to be cost-effective, we can't justify diverting NHS funds from other areas of healthcare in order to fund its use.
Fulvestrant was supposed to cost £500 a month with around 1,200 women a year set to have been in line for the drug as it was meant for women with oestrogen-receptor positive breast cancer that spread to other parts of their body but are yet to receive hormonal treatment.
According to Telegraph, many charities counting on the breast cancer drug were disappointed with the decision. Breast Cancer Now chief executive Baroness Delyth Morgan said that the drug would have helped in delaying chemotherapy, which, in turn, allows the patients to get a life much improved than they would get without fulvestrant.
New options for women with this type of breast cancer are long overdue, and, while fulvestrant's ultimate survival benefit remains uncertain, it offers a valuable advance in treatment.
