Life-extending prostate cancer drug to be made available to thousands more patients
Thousands of men to receive prostate cancer drug on NHS in ‘momentous victory’
- A life-extending drug for prostate cancer is now accessible to thousands more men on the NHS, following a significant expansion of its eligibility criteria.
- The hormone therapy, abiraterone, works by inhibiting testosterone production and was previously reserved for patients whose cancer had already spread.
- However, NHS England has confirmed that men diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer that has not yet metastasised will also now qualify for the treatment.
- Professor Nick James from the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) said the move from the NHS is “really good news for men in England”.
- Amy Rylance, assistant director of health improvement at Prostate Cancer UK, hailed the decision as a “momentous, life-saving victory for the thousands of men”.