Kidney cancer patients denied new drugs

Published on Tuesday 25 August 2009 22:22

PATIENTS with kidney cancer will continue to be denied access to new drugs following guidance from health watchdogs.

The English National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) rejected appeals over the use of bevacizumab (whose trade name is Avastin), sorafenib (Nexavar) and temsirolimus (Torisel) as first treatment options for advanced kidney cancer or cancer that has spread around the body.

Nice also turned down the use of sorafenib and sunitinib (marketed as Sutent) as secondary treatment options for people with either form of the disease.

The decision means it is unlikely the drugs will be adopted in Scotland in the near future.

Professor Peter Littlejohns, clinical and public health director at Nice, said: "We are very aware that renal cancer is a devastating disease for the individual and their family.

"We recommended the use of sunitinib for first-line renal cancer in March 2009, so one of these new treatments is now available.

"The evidence to support the use of the other first- and second-line treatments isn't strong enough to justify using NHS funds, which could be used for other cancer treatment programmes or in other treatment areas."

But the decision was attacked by campaigners.

Duleep Allirajah, policy manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "We are extremely disappointed by Nice's decision not to make these drugs available to all kidney cancer patients on the NHS.

"These innovative drugs are proven to significantly improve patients' quality of life and so it is hugely frustrating that despite this, Nice is not allowing patients to access them."

A NHS Quality Improvement Scotland spokesman said the drugs would remain not readily available to patients in Scotland, but added: "The Scottish Medicines Consortium will consider any further submissions based on new evidence which we receive in the future."