NICE has agreed to an affordable deal for two breast cancer treatments, available immediately to patients on the NHS.
In the final draft guidance, NICE has recommended Piqray and Trodelvy, two types of breast cancer treatments. These new drugs will benefit 3,450 people on the NHS, upholding NICE’s 100% approval rate of breast cancer drugs since 2018.
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “These new drugs will benefit thousands of cancer patients across the country, offering them more precious moments with their loved ones and a better quality of life.
“We are constantly monitoring the most promising treatments. The incredible work of the Cancer Drugs Fund has now provided early access to 100 cancer treatments for more than 80,000 patients since 2016 and is a pioneer for innovation.”
Combining Piqray and fulvestrant
NICE now recommends Piqray, which, once combined with the hormonal therapy fulvestrant, treats hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, PIKA3CA-mutated locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer that has grown after previous treatment.
The once-a-day tablet is the first targeted treatment for this type of breast cancer that has grown despite hormone therapy and a cancer growth inhibitor. It blocks the PI3K enzyme, which, when overactivated, mutates the PIKA3CA gene, stimulating cancer cells to divide and grow in an uncontrolled manner.
It is estimated that 2,800 people are eligible for treatment with Piqray and fulvestrant.
Treating triple negative breast cancer with Trodelvy
Trodelvy treats locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer that cannot be surgically removed. Eligible patients must have had two or more lines of systemic therapies to access this new breast cancer treatment.
Trodelvy targets Trop-2 proteins which are present at high levels in the tumour cell. It delivers the anti-cancer component directly to the tumour cells by targeting the proteins and, in turn, preventing them from multiplying and causing them to die.
The clinical trial shows that Trodelvy increases the time before a patient’s cancer worsens by three months and increases their life expectancy by around five months compared with chemotherapy. It is believed that around 650 will access this breast cancer treatment.
Helen Knight, interim director of medicines evaluation at NICE, said: “Both Piqray and Trodelvy are effective additional options that hold out the hope of a longer and a better quality of life for people with these types of advanced breast cancer. And both represent another step in delaying chemotherapy, allowing people to stay well for longer.
“We are pleased that the companies which make Piqray andTrodelvy have been able to work so constructively with us and NHS England to agree deals which mean we can make both available routinely on the NHS for around 3,450 people with these types of advanced breast cancer.
“NICE has now made positive recommendations in all 15 of its appraisals of breast cancer medicines since March 2018, driving innovation into the hands of clinicians to give better outcomes for thousands of NHS patients.”
