The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

| Next | Section Menu | Main Menu | Previous |
Breast cancer
Breast cancer drug rejected for NHS use on
cost-benefit grounds
Charities angered by guidance on Kadcyla, which costs £90,000 per year per patient and gives extra
nine months on average
A consultant analysing a mammogram. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA
Sarah Boseley Health editor
Thursday 29 December 2016 00.01 GMT Last modified on Thursday 29 December 2016 00.04 GMT
A breast cancer drug that costs £90,000 a year per patient has been turned down for use by the NHS
on financial grounds, triggering an outcry from patients groups who say it prolongs the lives of people
seriously ill with the disease.
Kadcyla, made by Roche Pharmaceuticals, was rejected by the National Institute for Health and Care
Excellence. It has the highest price tag ever for a cancer medicine and was turned down because its
benefits did not justify its cost, Nice said.
Prof Carole Longson, director of the centre for health technology evaluation at Nice, said: “We know
that people with cancer place great importance on drugs that can increase their life expectancy. For
that reason we apply as much flexibility as we can when we look at new life-extending treatments.
“But the reality is that the price of trastuzumab emtansine [the generic name for Kadcyla] is currently
too high in relation to the benefits it gives for it to be recommended for routine commissioning in the
NHS, even taking into account the end-of-life criteria and the patient access scheme.”
The charity Breast Cancer Now launched a petition against what it called a disastrous decision and
“a huge setback for the treatment of advanced breast cancer”, while Breast Cancer Care said the
decision was unacceptable.