Herceptin Treatment UK

Appeal against NICE decision about Herceptin Treatment

You might have read elsewhere on this site that there had been an appeal against the decision to offer herceptin treatment on the NHS for early stage breast cancer patients.

NICE is the National Institute for Clinical Evidence - a government sponsored agency charged with responsibility to evaluate all new drugs or treatments and with deciding whether offering them for National Health Service (NHS) represents good practice and value for money.

NICE recently approved herceptin for NHS use in early breast cancer patients with HER-2 sensitive tumours. By law, any NICE decision must be open to appeal by those who disagree with it. Normally these appeals relate to drugs that NICE has declined to approve. However, in this case the appeal is against the fact that herceptin has been approved.

The appeal has come from Newbury and Community Primary Care Trust.

The appeal was heard yesterday and NICE's appeal panel now have 20 working days to report back to its guidance executive. If the appeal is upheld then there is the possibility that a new consultation for the drug will need to be submitted - greatly delaying its use in England and Wales. (Scotland and Northern Ireland operate a different system and patients there are currently receiving the drug if it is indicated for them).

According to a BBC report Newbury PCT had the following issues

• they say that the original NICE approval guidance does not take into account clinical trial data that suggest some women may respond better than others
• they claim that some studies suggest a shorter period of treatment than the recommended 12 months could be just as effective
• they challenge the assumption that all women had the same capacity to respond to a year's worth of treatment means the cost effectiveness for the NHS might not be as attractive as initially presented
• longer term risks and benefits for the drug were still unknown

With the exception of the last point in the list it all smacks of penny pinching doesn't it.

Personally, I'm confident that Herceptin will gain full NHS approval very soon, but for the time being it all adds to anxiety and concern for those women who could benefit from it.

Gordon

Read more about treatment with herceptin