Cancer news

Cancer news
New drug approved for advanced bowel cancer
Last updated 27 August 2009
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has approved a new drug, cetuximab, for NHS use as a treatment for advanced bowel cancer that has spread to the liver.Cetuximab is a biological therapy that attaches itself to receptor proteins on the surface of cancer cells.This prevents another protein called epidermal growth factor (EGF) from reaching the cancer cells and stops them from growing.Nice has announced that the drug should be offered as a first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal (bowel) cancer, when used in combination with a number of other drugs called 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), folinic acid and oxaliplatin.However, cetuximab may only be given to patients whose bowel tumours are operable, whose liver tumours are inoperable, and who would be well enough to undergo surgery if their liver tumours became operable after treatment.According to Nice, the drug's manufacturer has agreed to repay 16 per cent of the amount of cetuximab used by each patient, a move that has made the drug cost-effective for use on the NHS.Professor Peter Littlejohns, clinical and public health director at Nice, said: 'Before making these recommendations the appraisal committee considered the manufacturer's cost-effectiveness estimates and the proposed 16 per cent rebate scheme, as well as the evidence on cetuximab successfully shrinking liver metastases enough so that they can be removed via surgery.'The expert added that the latest guidance 'means that those patients who meet these criteria will have a further treatment option'.