Men denied life-extending prostate cancer drug

A crab foundation has said it is "angry and frustrated" that ministers and wellness officials person not approved the proviso of a life-extending prostate crab cause done the NHS successful England.

The drug, abiraterone, has been disposable successful Scotland and Wales for 2 years for high-risk patients whose crab has not yet spread, but not successful England and Northern Ireland.

In a missive to Prostate Cancer UK, seen by the BBC, Health Minister Karin Smyth said the determination by NHS England, pursuing a lengthy review, was "based connected wide affordability" and that "it would not beryllium due to intervene".

The authorities said urgent proposal had been requested connected the issue.

The foundation said it was a "dire and urgent concern successful England" with "a bureaucratic blockage denying men this treatment".

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We recognize the vexation and upset of immoderate patients who cannot entree this perchance life-saving treatment. Ministers person requested urgent proposal connected the issue."

Although not a cure, abiraterone tin assistance halt prostate crab spreading to different parts of the body.

In England and Northern Ireland, the cause is lone approved for men with precise precocious prostate crab which has dispersed already.

In Wales and Scotland, radical with the illness that has not yet dispersed tin besides get it.

Research has shown that for these earlier signifier patients, the endurance complaint aft six years is improved and that the cause halved the complaint of progression of the cancer.

The foundation says galore lives could beryllium extended by the drug, fixed the findings from a proceedings called Stampede, published successful 2022.

It recovered improved likelihood of endurance among men fixed the cause alongside accustomed care, and concluded that abiraterone should beryllium considered a caller modular treatment.

According to figures from NHS England, each twelvemonth astir 8,400 patients person high-risk prostate crab that has not yet spread.

Using the Stampede assumptions, 672 of those men could dice prematurely without entree to abiraterone.

In October 2023, BBC News spoke to Giles Turner, a retired banker surviving successful Sussex. He was diagnosed with prostate crab earlier that twelvemonth but was told that abiraterone could not beryllium obtained connected the NHS successful England.

He chose to wage for attraction with the cause astatine £250 a month. He told america past that helium felt "very fortunate" to beryllium capable to spend it, but outraged for others who could not.

At the time, NHS England said it was reviewing the drug's usage for a wider scope of men.

However, successful December 2024 it told Prostate Cancer UK that "it has not been imaginable to place the indispensable recurrent headroom successful gross budgets".

Because abiraterone is simply a generic cause which has gone "off patent" and is licensed for lone 1 radical of prostate crab patients, determination is simply a analyzable process to get it approved for wider use.

Each year, NHS England tin marque "discretionary" concern decisions with a specializer advisory group, but it has chosen not to for this drug.

Smyth's missive earlier this period said the process had to look astatine "the wide fund interaction of introducing a caller attraction based connected diligent volumes", and ministers would not intervene.

Mr Turner said helium was "stunned" that astir one-and-a-half years aft the BBC report, NHS England had not caught up with NHS Scotland and NHS Wales.

He has spent £20,000 truthful acold connected his treatment, and said helium felt it was incorrect that portion costly caller patented drugs treatments could beryllium funded, abiraterone - costing the NHS £77 per battalion per period - could not be.