{"id":23988,"date":"2025-03-14T13:30:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T14:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23988"},"modified":"2025-03-14T15:35:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T15:35:45","slug":"men-denied-life-extending-prostate-cancer-drug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23988","title":{"rendered":"Men denied life-extending prostate cancer drug"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-0 haItSe\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-1 cjDa-dM\">1 hour ago<\/p>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new-contributors\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-12 fcCDwR\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-5 evAEAB\">\n<div><span class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-7 kItaYD\">Hugh Pym and Ian Atkinson<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>BBC News<!-- --><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 ejjhCR\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-a34861b-1 jxzoZC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ca231b50-00be-11f0-8b2a-c7cde80a6cf3.png.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Institute of Cancer Research Abiraterone tablets on a table\" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 efFcac\" \/><span class=\"sc-a34861b-2 hesJxn\">Institute of Cancer Research<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">A cancer charity has said it is &#8220;angry and frustrated&#8221; that ministers and health officials have not approved the provision of a life-extending prostate cancer drug through the NHS in England.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The drug, abiraterone, has been available in Scotland and Wales for two years for high-risk patients whose cancer has not yet spread, but not in England and Northern Ireland.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">In a letter to Prostate Cancer UK, seen by the BBC, Health Minister Karin Smyth said the decision by NHS England, following a lengthy review, was &#8220;based on overall affordability&#8221; and that &#8220;it would not be appropriate to intervene&#8221;. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The government said urgent advice had been requested on the issue.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The charity said it was a &#8220;dire and urgent situation in England&#8221; with &#8220;a bureaucratic blockage denying men this treatment&#8221;.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: &#8220;We understand the frustration and upset of some patients who cannot access this potentially life-saving treatment. Ministers have requested urgent advice on the issue.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Although not a cure, abiraterone can help stop prostate cancer spreading to other parts of the body. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">In England and Northern Ireland, the drug is only approved for men with very advanced prostate cancer which has spread already. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">In Wales and Scotland, people with the disease that has not yet spread can also get it.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Research has shown that for these earlier stage patients, the survival rate after six years is improved and that the drug halved the rate of progression of the cancer.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 gfTVSf\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-a34861b-1 jxzoZC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 cOpVbP hide-when-no-script\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/913e4990-00be-11f0-8b2a-c7cde80a6cf3.png.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Giles Turner Giles Turner, from Sussex, has paid privately to access abiraterone\" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 efFcac\" \/><span class=\"sc-a34861b-2 hesJxn\">Giles Turner<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The charity says many lives could be extended by the drug, given the findings from a trial called Stampede, <!-- --><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/article\/S0140-6736(21)02437-5\/fulltext\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">published in 2022.<!-- --><\/a> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">It found improved odds of survival among men given the drug alongside usual care, and concluded that abiraterone should be considered a new standard treatment. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">According to figures from NHS England, each year about 8,400 patients have high-risk prostate cancer that has not yet spread. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Using the Stampede assumptions, 672 of those men could die prematurely without access to abiraterone.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\"><a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/health-67065504\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">In October 2023,<!-- --><\/a> BBC News spoke to Giles Turner, a retired banker living in Sussex. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier that year but was told that abiraterone could not be obtained on the NHS in England. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">He chose to pay for treatment with the drug at \u00a3250 a month. He told us then that he felt &#8220;very fortunate&#8221; to be able to afford it, but outraged for others who could not. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">At the time, NHS England said it was reviewing the drug&#8217;s use for a wider range of men. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">However, in December 2024 it told Prostate Cancer UK that &#8220;it has not been possible to identify the necessary recurrent headroom in revenue budgets&#8221;. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Because abiraterone is a generic drug which has gone &#8220;off patent&#8221; and is licensed for only one group of prostate cancer patients, there is a complicated process to get it approved for wider use.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Each year, NHS England can make &#8220;discretionary&#8221; investment decisions with a specialist advisory group, but it has chosen not to for this drug. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Smyth&#8217;s letter earlier this month said the process had to look at &#8220;the overall budget impact of introducing a new treatment based on patient volumes&#8221;, and ministers would not intervene.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Mr Turner said he was &#8220;stunned&#8221; that nearly one-and-a-half years after the BBC report, NHS England had not caught up with NHS Scotland and NHS Wales. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">He has spent \u00a320,000 so far on his treatment, and said he felt it was wrong that while expensive new patented drugs treatments could be funded, abiraterone &#8211; costing the NHS \u00a377 per pack per month &#8211; could not be. <!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1 hour ago<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23988"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23993,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23988\/revisions\/23993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}