Go-ahead for cancer drug after U-turn by watchdog

Scots cancer patients will continue to be prescribed a life-prolonging drug after a watchdog performed a U-turn over whether it should be made available on the NHS.

The drug, Alimta, has been offered to Scottish sufferers of mesothelioma, a lung cancer associated with exposure to asbestos, since 2005.

But the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), which advises health trusts south of the border, had originally ruled it should not be used in England and Wales on the grounds it was no better than other, less costly, treatments.
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NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (QIS) had indicated that if nothing changed, Nice's opinion would also prevail in Scotland, prompting angry protests from medical experts.

Yesterday, however, Nice announced that after a more detailed review of the drug's effectiveness, Alimta would be made available to patients who are able to carry out day-to-day tasks but whose cancer is advanced and where surgery is inappropriate.

Dr Gillian Leng, Nice's implementation director, said: "Our initial review of the evidence available on pemetrexed disodium (Alimta) suggested it was insufficient to demonstrate that the drug was better than other, far less costly medicines.

"But a number of significant factors have become apparent, which have enabled the independent appraisal committee to recommend it as a treatment option for the majority of people with (the cancer)."

In Scotland, where asbestos was used heavily, especially in Clydeside shipyards, rates of mesothelioma are 31% higher than the UK average.

Studies have found Alimta can extend survival by three months and reduce pain and coughing to give sufferers a better quality of life.

Clydeside Asbestos Group was among those campaigning for Alimta to be offered to mesothelioma sufferers, regardless of the Nice ruling.

Medical experts also backed the campaign, arguing it would have been wrong for a decision taken in England to affect Scots cancer sufferers.

In a letter to The Herald, Professor Andrew Watterson, head of occupational and environmental health at Stirling University, and Tommy Gorman, who has also researched the illness, said: "To deny access to a drug which can extend life and greatly reduce the worst features of the disease is inhumane."

Dr Mick Peake, a consultant physician and vice chairman of Mesothelioma UK, said he was "delighted" by the news.

"This is absolutely excellent news for all those patients suffering from this dreadful disease," he said. "Whilst pemetrexed is not the entire answer to the problem of mesothelioma, it can significantly improve symptoms and prolong life in suitable patients."

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