Key Prostate Cancer Drug Hit By NHS England Funding Refusal

The charity Prostate Cancer UK has been running a campaign asking NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) to revise their decision with regard to the funding of a very important drug in the treatement of Prostate Cancer, enzalutamide, without the outright restriction on its use after treatment with abiraterone. This would mean it would be available to all men who needed it.

Unfortunately, the revised NICE decision does not remove the limitation and has passed the buck firmly and squarely on NHS England.

In a letter to all those who backed their campaign, the charity's Director of Policy and Strategy, Dr Sarah Cant; explained just what has happened and the ramifications for all men suffering from this appalling disease:

"NICE has now confirmed its decision to approve enzalutamide, but the implications of this decision are not what we had hoped, or what we have been campaigning for together.

The wording of the NICE decision means the final say on whether to provide enzalutamide to men who have already received abiraterone is made by the organisation that funds the treatment. NHS England, which funds these types of treatments (in England), has decided not to fund enzalutamide for men who have had abiraterone. To put it bluntly: NICE has passed the buck and NHS England aren’t paying.

This is an outrage and means that many men now have no treatment options left.

Neither abiraterone nor enzalutamide are experimental drugs – they are both licensed and recommended for use on the NHS. But because they’re quite new treatments, we don’t know yet whether the order they’re prescribed in makes a difference. We think that doctors need to be able to prescribe the medicines they think will be best for their patients, without fear that if they try one, another will then be out of reach.

NICE decisions cover England and Wales, and are often adopted in Northern Ireland too. We have written to decision makers in Wales and Northern Ireland to see how they are interpreting NICE’s guidance.

If this decision affects you personally, our specialist nurses can offer support. Call them on 0800 074 8383.

There is one remaining chink of hope.

The Cancer Drugs Fund, which can be used to fund treatments in England that don’t have NICE approval, met to discuss whether they would pay for enzalutamide for men who’ve already had abiraterone. We have strongly urged them to make the right decision for men, and we’ll let you know what happens.

Although a huge disappointment, this result for men with prostate cancer highlights the need for Men United to keep taking the fight to the organisations and individuals who make the decisions that affect so many men’s lives. We’re certainly not resting on our laurels, and are already planning our next move depending on the decision made by the Cancer Drugs Fund."

Source: Kath Quinn / Prostate Cancer UK

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