Decision by the North of England Cancer Drug Approvals Group

9:07am Friday 27th November 2009

By Barry Nelson

PATIENTS in the North-East will be among the first in the country to get a life-extending new cancer drug on the NHS, it was revealed last night.

The move was hailed as “great news for patients” by a leading cancer specialist from the charity, Beating Bowel Cancer.

Following a decision by the North of England Cancer Drug Approvals Group, patients with bowel cancer who have failed to respond to two previous types of chemotherapy can now be tried on an advanced new drug called Cetuximab, also known as Erbitux.

The group’s decision, in response to requests from specialists, has been made ahead of guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).

Nice, which assesses whether new drugs should be prescribed on the NHS, has so far ruled against the use of Cetuximab as a “third line”

This is not the first time that North group has led the way in agreeing to fund new cancer drugs ahead of Nice guidance.

Specialists in the region, which includes the North- East and Cumbria but not North Yorkshire, estimate that the drug could extend the lives of more than 70 patients each year.

Steve Williamson, consultant pharmacist with the group, said: “There has been renewed interest in Cetuximab since a test was developed last year to identify patients most likely to benefit from the drug.

“This means that we can target the use of this drug to ensure that the patients who receive the drug are those most likely to benefit from it.”

Agreement to fund Cetuximab follows discussions with the pharmaceutical company who make the drug on the cost of the treatment and an agreement in the region has been reached.

Dr Mark Saunders, a consultant oncologist from the Christie cancer hospital in Manchester and a member of the medical board of Beating Bowel Cancer, said: “This is great news for patients. Now that it has been approved up there we would hope we could use them as an example to get it approved in the North- West.”

Dr Saunders said he might now consider referring his patients to the North-East for treatment.

Dr Saunders said that although the drug, can cost about £700 a week, it is widely available in Western Europe and the US.

Nice recently approved the use of cetuximab as a firstline treatment for a small group of patients with bowel cancer that had spread to the liver.