Three new cancer treatments are to be made available on the NHS in Scotland, as six drugs are given the green light for use.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) approved the new cancer drugs, as well as medication to help people with a rare and serious type of epilepsy, and another that can help prevent HIV infections.
One of the drugs now available is olaparib – also known under the brand name Lynparza- for adults with breast cancer linked to the BRCA1 gene, or those with mutated HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.
Welcoming the decision, Claire Rowney, chief executive of charity Breast Cancer Now, said: “It’s brilliant this targeted treatment has been made available on the NHS in Scotland.
“Crucially, it offers people living with incurable secondary breast cancer with an altered BRCA gene an additional drug option to help stop their cancer from progressing for longer, so they can continue doing the things that matter most to them.”
Claire added that the discovery of drugs like olaparib, which treat cancers caused by changes in the BRCA gene, “is the culmination of over a decade of work at the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre at the Institute of Cancer Research London”.
She stated: “We’re delighted that olaparib is now available across the UK, for eligible secondary breast cancer patients to provide a valuable choice for both patients and clinicians.”
Professor David Cameron, an oncology expert at Edinburgh University and director of cancer services at NHS Lothian, explained when breast cancer spreads, it can be a “challenging diagnosis for patients, who have to expect shortened survival, often experiencing low health-related quality of life and a significant burden from its treatment”.
But he said olaparib offers a treatment option “demonstrating a significant delay in cancer progression or death compared to standard chemotherapies, and to do so as a tablet therapy”.
He added: “This recommendation by the SMC represents a significant milestone for patients in Scotland, addressing an unmet need for targeted therapies for those living with BRCA-mutated HER2-negative breast cancer.”
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In addition to olaparib, the SMC approved cemiplimab for treating women with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer, where the cancer has progressed on or after chemotherapy.
It also backed the use of durvalumab as a treatment together with chemotherapy for those patients with newly diagnosed extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
Meanwhile, fenfluramine was approved for use to help treat a serious, rare type of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, with another drug, cabotegravir approved to help prevent sexually transmitted HIV infections in adults and adolescents who are at high risk of being infected.
Lastly, the SMC backed the use of netarsudil/latanoprost for patients suffering from high pressure in the eye, or the eye condition glaucoma.
SMC chairman Dr Scott Muir said: “The committee was pleased to be able to accept six new medicines for use by NHS Scotland.
“Cabotegravir, when used together with safer sex practices may help to reduce the spread of HIV, which is an ongoing priority for the Scottish Government. Cemiplimab offers a second line treatment option for patients with advanced cervical cancer, where there are few others.”
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