Cancer kidney drug gets green light after hitch
31 July 2007
Published in the North West Evening Mail
Top doctors have given the go-ahead for a new kidney cancer drug to be made available to patients in Cumbria - despite turning it down earlier this year.
The new drug, called Sunitab, is an initial treatment for kidney cancer. It is not seen as a cure.
It gained approval this week from the North East and Cumbria Cancer Drug Approvals Group, which includes doctors and other health professionals involved in the care of patients with cancer in the region.
Their decision is subject to formal guidance from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence — the national watchdog for the NHS.
Earlier this year a request for the drug to be used as a second-line palliative treatment for patients whose initial treatment had failed was turned down by the group.
At that time, following consideration of the available medical and scientific evidence, the panel decided that there was no evidence of the drug’s cost-effectiveness as a second-line treatment. It therefore felt it could not approve it for use.
The group said it would review its position when further evidence became available later in the year.
This new evidence has now been considered and it shows that the drug can lead to improvements in the quality of life when used as an initial treatment.
Ian Dalton, chair of the cancer drug approvals group, said: “When we first considered this drug at the beginning of the year, the request was for it to be used as a second line palliative treatment when the initial treatment had failed.
“After considering the most up to date medical and scientific evidence available, we felt we couldn’t support its use as a second line treatment. But at the time we said as soon as more evidence became available we would give this early consideration, which we have done this week.
“Following these discussions we have decided that the drug can lead to improvements in the quality of life for patients when used as an initial treatment.”
The group stressed that it has not changed its position on the drug’s use as a second line treatment.
