Charities attack bowel cancer drug refusal

Cancer charities have reacted angrily to the decision not to provide two bowel cancer drugs which could prolong the lives of sufferers on the NHS.

Bevacizumab (Avastin) and cetuximab (Erbitux) have been shown to extend the lives of those with bowel cancer by an average of five months, yet the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has advised that they are not cost effective.

Hilary Whittaker, chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, said that the decision is a “scandal” and has called on Nice to reconsider its guidance.

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK, with roughly 50 people dying each day from the disease. It affects one in 18 people and represents roughly 13 per cent of all new cancer cases in men and women.

Avastin is a monoclonal antibody which targets new blood vessel formation in the tumour and costs on average ?17,000 per patient.

Erbitux, also a monoclonal antibody, blocks the proliferation of cells which encourage tumour growth and costs roughly ?12,000 per patient.

Ms Whittaker commented: “We feel extremely disappointed that bowel cancer ? the second biggest cancer killer – is not being given the attention or funding it deserves. It is terrible that, for those people who sadly find themselves battling with this disease, the value placed on their lives seems to be so minimal, with effective and licensed treatments today put out of reach for the majority of patients.

“We are now the only nation in the EU not to offer cetuximab and bevacizumab to bowel cancer patients in the disease’s advanced stages. Why should patients in the UK be worse off than patients in the rest of Europe?”

Echoing these sentiments, Lynn Faulds Wood, the founder of Lynn’s Bowel Cancer Campaign, told the Today programme that the decision to not offer the drugs was nothing less than “cruelty beyond belief”.

Responding to the decision, Charity Cancerbackup has said that ‘smarter price negotiations’ are needed to ensure that treatments such as Avastin and Erbitux are made available on the NHS.

Joanne Rule, Cancerbackup chief executive, said: “Pharmaceutical companies need to find a way to ensure that their treatments can be purchased by the NHS at levels closer to the Nice affordability threshold. There must surely be smarter ways to negotiate on price.

“We urge the manufacturers, the Department of Health and Nice to meet urgently to find ways to make cancer treatments more affordable. Without change, we will simply perpetuate a two-tier system in which important treatments will only be available to those who can afford to pay,” she added.

Defending the decision this morning on the Today programme, Andrew Dillon, the chief executive of Nice, said that making it was a “very difficult judgement”.

“There are so many areas where the NHS could invest more, much more, and get substantial improvements in the quality of life and in some cases extensions for life for people right across the board,” he said.

“What we do is look carefully at the extent of those benefits and yes, we do have to set them against the costs of what the NHS is going to have to pay for that. In the end, part of our responsibility is to help the NHS spread and use its resources as effectively and fairly as possible.”

The final ruling from Nice will be announced in November following a 15-day appraisal period in which appeals can be made by consultees.

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