22.11.19
NHS Scotland gives green light to two new cancer drugs
People in Scotland living with breast and kidney cancer will soon see the benefits of two new cancer treatment options through the NHS.
Lenvatinib and ribociclib were given the go ahead by the Scottish Medical Consortium (SMC) yesterday (21 Nov).
A further three drugs were rejected, including atezolizumab for a certain type of lung cancer for not offering ‘significant clinical benefits of value for money’.
Kidney cancer treatment
Lenvatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, a type of drug that stops the cancer growing new blood vessels making it hard to survive. It also stops cancer cells receiving messages that them to grow and divide.
It will be used in combination with another targeted drug called everolimus which starves the cancer of blood, stopping it from growing.
Adults who’ve already had a similar blood vessel-stunting treatment, suffering from advanced renal cell carcinoma will be eligible to receive this combination.
A phase two trial of the drugs showed that on average, patients remained stable and avoided deterioration for around nine months longer when taking the combination.
The most common side effect of the combination is diarrhoea with almost nine in ten patients having experienced it.
Breast cancer treatment
Targeted treatment ribociclib has also been given the green light for certain people in Scotland with breast cancer that has spread to the area where their tumour first appeared or to another part of the body.
Ribociclib works by blocking the molecules that allow cancerous cells to grow and divide. It is used with fulvestrant, a drug used to block the oestrogen hormone.
A phase three clinical trial of the drug combination stopped the cancer progressing for almost eight months longer than when fulvestrant was used with a placebo.
A reduction in white blood cell count was the most common side effect reported by those taking the combination.
The approval of these drugs has been called ‘great news’ by Cancer Research UK’s public affairs manager in Scotland, Gordon Matheson who commented that “both drugs extended the time before patients’ disease got worse in clinical trials.”