Life-extending prostate cancer drug to be offered to thousands in England

A life-extending prostate cancer drug is to be made available to thousands of men in England in a matter of weeks, after a campaign by a patient and a charity.

Abiraterone has been provided on the NHS in Scotland and Wales since 2023 but not in England and Northern Ireland, except in the most severe cases.

The drug is already prescribed for patients in the UK with very advanced prostate cancer that has spread.

But from now on the drug will be available on the NHS in England to high-risk patients whose cancer has not yet metastasised - potentially saving hundreds of lives.

Prostate Cancer UK's argument that many lives could be extended by the drug was based on the findings of a trial called STAMPEDE, published in 2022.

It found improved odds of survival among men given the drug alongside usual care.

The Institute of Cancer Research said two years of abiraterone halved the risk of prostate cancer coming back and reduced the risk of death by 40%.

Researchers had been frustrated that the health watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) had not approved the use of the drug for newly diagnosed patients.

But for NICE and the medical regulator the MHRA to consider extending a drug's usage they need detailed and time-consuming applications.

In October 2022, abiraterone had gone "off patent" - which means the legal protection granted to the original brand making it (granting them exclusive rights to manufacture and sell it) had expired.

Once it became a generic medicine - with other companies now having the right to buy and sell it - there was limited incentive for companies to seek approval for it to be prescribed for a wider group of patients.

Ministers and health authorities in Scotland and Wales found a way within existing protocols to start supplying the drug to the NHS.

But there was no such shift in England.

NHS England said because money had been saved on other medicines it was now possible to fund the extension of the drug's availability.

National clinical director for cancer at NHS England, Prof Peter Johnson, said: "The life-extending treatment available on the NHS within weeks will mean thousands of men can kick-start their year with the news that they will have a better chance of living longer and healthier lives.

"The NHS will continue to work hard to offer people the most effective and evidence-based treatments, with several new prostate cancer drugs rolled over the last five years."

Health and social care Secretary Wes Streeting said: "When you're living with prostate cancer, every day with your loved ones matters.

"I'm delighted the NHS have taken the steps needed to make the drug available, giving thousands of men access to abiraterone - a treatment that significantly improves survival rates and can give patients precious extra years of life."

Responding to the news, STAMPEDE trial co-lead Prof Gert Attard, at the UCL Cancer Institute, said: "This is a hugely welcome moment for patients. Our research showed clearly that abiraterone can save lives when offered earlier to men at high risk of their cancer spreading.

"Funding for this disease indication is already available in Scotland and Wales, so we are delighted that NHS England has acted on this evidence and will now make this highly effective treatment routinely available."

Prostate Cancer UK is engaging with the decision-makers in Northern Ireland to try to ensure that they rapidly follow suit.

The charity said it was writing to politicians in Northern Ireland to press the government in Stormont.

Stormont has yet to comment on any plans to change how abiraterone is prescribed.