Roche’s MabThera approved by NICE for follicular lymphoma

NICE has approved MabThera, the Roche drug, for the treatment of stage III and IV follicular lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The new guidance from the regulatory body for England and Wales allows MabThera to be used as a therapy for previously untreated follicular lymphoma in stages III and IV of the disease, which are characterised by cancer cells being present in lymph nodes on both sides of the diaphragm in the first instance and widespread throughout the body in the second.

MabThera is licensed to be used in conjunction with CVP, a combination therapy consisting of cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisolone. Roche’s drug is a monoclonal antibody that “sticks” to the surface of the body’s B-cells of the immune system, which become cancerous in the case of follicular lymphoma.

This acts as a marker, allowing the body’s immune system to destroy both normal and abnormal B-cells, to be replenished later by normal ones after completion of the chemotherapy course.

Dr Gillian Leng, implementation systems director and executive lead for the appraisal, remarked: “Today’s guidance extends the use of this drug to cover first-line treatment, improves the options available to people with this form of cancer and sets clear standards for the NHS in England and Wales on how it should be used.”

MabThera had previously been licensed as a last-in-line defence against stage III and IV follicular lymphoma.

The drug is also used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, another disease thought to be caused by the abnormal behaviour of B-cells.