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Cancer groups are to appeal against a ruling which would deny NHS patients in England and Wales a drug for treating life-threatening bone marrow diseases.
The drug, Vidaza, gives patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) an extra nine months of life on average.
But the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) ruled that Vidaza is too costly, relative to the benefits it brings.
The drug costs £45,000 a year per patient.
MDS means that the bone marrow does not produce enough of one or more types of blood cells. Most patients need regular blood transfusions.
The average survival of patients with MDS is about 20 months. Nearly a third of patients progress to acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive form of leukaemia.
Research has shown that the average survival for higher-risk MDS patients receiving Vidaza (also known as azacitidine) was 24.5 months, compared with 15 months for patients receiving conventional treatments such as supportive care or chemotherapy.
The appeal against the NICE ruling is being lodged by three cancer patient groups – the MDS UK Patient Support Group, the Leukaemia Society and the Rarer Cancers Forum. The manufacturer of Vidaza, Celgene, is also appealing against the decision… Continue reading
