THOUSANDS of women with breast cancer will be denied a life-extending drug after it was deemed too pricey for the NHS.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence watchdog said the medicine Enhertu is not cost-effective at the cost demanded by pharmaceutical companies.
PAAround 56,000 women get breast cancer every year in the UK and in can spread in up to a third of cases[/caption]
Negotiations between the NHS and AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo were fruitless, it said.
Trials suggested the drug can add six months of survival for women dying from breast cancer that has spread.
Baroness Delyth Morgan, from the charity Breast Cancer Now, said: “This is a dark day.
“This means that thousands of mums, daughters, sisters and wives face knowing a treatment that could have been a lifeline for them exists, but remains out of reach.
“Meanwhile women in Scotland have been granted access to it.
“Everyone must come back to the table and find a solution that puts women first.”
The cost the NHS was being asked to pay was too high
Helen Knight
The charity estimates 1,000 women per year in England could benefit from the drug.
Around 56,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and it spreads – known as secondary cancer – in up to a third of cases.
It cannot be cured but some drugs can slow it down to help patients live longer.
Enhertu, known as trastuzumab deruxtecan, targets a specific type of cancer called HER2-low.
It costs around £10,000 per patient per month in the US but the NHS can negotiate lower drug prices in secret.
Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at Nice, said: “The cost the NHS was being asked to pay was too high in relation to the benefits it provides.
“Without a commercial arrangement that results in a price that represents a cost-effective use of NHS resources, Nice cannot recommend Enhertu.”
Drug makers rail against decision process
The drugmakers accused Nice of moving the goalposts by changing the way it evaluates new medicines.
Haran Maheson, vice president at Daiichi Sankyo UK, said: “We are extremely disappointed that patients with breast cancer in England and Wales are going to lose out due to a technicality in the new formula Nice uses to assess cancer medicines.
“As we have demonstrated in Scotland, it is possible to provide access to this medicine cost-effectively within the UK.
“Patients now face a postcode lottery.”
Tom Keith-Roach, president of AstraZeneca UK, added: “This is a devastating decision and one which is out of step with other countries including Scotland.
“This sits extremely uncomfortably and we call on Nice to reverse this decision.”
What are the signs of breast cancer?
Signs and symptoms
Stay alert to symptoms of breast cancer which include:
A lump or swelling in the breast, upper chest or armpit
A change to the skin, such as puckering or dimpling
A change in the colour of the breast – the breast may look red or inflamed
A nipple change, for example it has become pulled in (inverted)
Rash or crusting around the nipple
Unusual liquid (discharge) from either nipple
Changes in size or shape of the breast
On its own, pain in your breasts is not usually a sign of breast cancer. But look out for pain in your breast or armpit that’s there all or almost all the time.
Although rare, men can get breast cancer. The most common symptom of breast cancer in men is a lump in the chest area.
Check your breasts
There’s no special way to check your breasts and you do not need any training. At Breast Cancer Now, they say, it’s as simple as TLC: Touch, Look, Check:
Touch your breasts: can you feel anything new or unusual?
Look for changes: does anything look different to you?
Check any new or unusual changes with a GP