Kidney cancer drug decision hailed as 'major breakthrough'

5:30am Friday 27th July 2007

CAMPAIGNERS have hailed the decision by North-East health bosses to fund a new kidney cancer drug as a major breakthrough.

It means newly diagnosed kidney cancer patients will be able to get Sutent from their NHS specialists.

"Your newspaper is to be congratulated for keeping this issue in the headlines. I just hope this will now have a domino effect on other health authorities around the country."

Nick Turkentine, spokesman for the James Whale Kidney Cancer Fund

But existing kidney cancer patients who have already been treated with other cancer drugs will not be eligible to receive Sutent.

Yesterday the North East and Cumbria Cancer Drug Approvals Group reversed their earlier decision to refuse funding for the new drug Sutent.

The group said new evidence had been considered which shows that the drug can lead to improvements in the quality of life when used as an initial treatment.

Discussions with the manufacturers have also resulted in a reduction in the cost of the drug.

The Northern Echo has run a series of front page stories highlighting the plight of local sufferers who have been unable to get the drug on the NHS.

The decision means that cancer specialists in the North-East will be the first in England to be able to prescribe Sutent on the NHS.

Sutent, which works by starving cancer cells of nutrients, is widely prescribed by cancer specialists in America and Europe.

Nick Turkentine, a spokesman for the James Whale Kidney Cancer Fund - which has campaigned for all kidney patients to receive Sutent on the NHS - said: "This will make a tremendous difference to kidney cancer patients in your region.

"Your newspaper is to be congratulated for keeping this issue in the headlines. I just hope this will now have a domino effect on other health authorities around the country."

But while the U-turn is good news for newly diagnosed kidney cancer patients, patients who have already been put on an alternative drug, such as Interferon, will not be able to get Sutent on the NHS.

This is because experts on the North East cancer drug group have looked at the available evidence and come to the conclusion that Sutent has a better chance of prolonging patients lives if it is used as a first-line treatment.

It also means that North-East patients who have been fighting a very public battle to get Sutent on the NHS will still not be eligible for the drug.

Ray Devonport, whose wife, Kathleen has advanced kidney cancer but was refused permission to go on Sutent by County Durham Primary Care Trust, welcomed the decision but expressed concern that patients on other drugs would not benefit.

"That sounds all right for new people but what about patients like Kathleen? I think that's awful," he added.

Mrs Devonport is currently on Nexavar, a very similar drug to Sutent, but only because an anonymous donor has paid £9,000 to cover the cost of three months of treatment.

Another kidney cancer patient who is trying to persuade her local health authority to pay for her to have Sutent is Barbara Selby from Richmond, North Yorkshire.

Although she lives in North Yorkshire her consultant is based in Middlesbrough so it is unclear whether she would have been eligible for the treatment under the new ruling.

Her daughter, Clare Whiteside, said the decision was "a step in the right direction" but seemed "very unfair" on patients who had been on other cancer drugs first.

She also raised the question whether, following the decision by the North-East cancer drug group, patients from other parts of the country who might benefit from Sutent could exercise 'patient choice' and opt to be seen in the region.

A spokeswoman for the North East Cancer Drug Approvals Group said the decision to fund Sutent as a first line treatment for kidney cancer was taken at a meeting in Newcastle on Monday.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire and York PCT said: "We are aware of the decision of the North East Cancer Network's Drug Advisory Group and will consider its recommendation, along with other sources of information, at the PCT's next High Cost Treatments Board. In the meantime, requests from clinicians to use the drug will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis."