New cervical cancer drug approved

Thousands of women with cervical cancer in the UK could benefit from a new drug as it has been added to the list of approved medicines from the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

The drug bevacizumab (Avastin) will be used to treat advanced cervical cancer. It is already used for treating other forms of the disease, however it is the first time that it has been made available on the CDF.

The national Cancer Drugs Fund list is a list of approved fast-track drugs available to people receiving treatment across England. 

NHS England’s Chemotherapy Clinical Reference Group (CRG) has made bevacizumab available after trials showed the drug could give patients with advanced cervical cancer another four months to live, when compared to just chemotherapy alone. 

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in young women, and the number of females being diagnosed with the disease has significantly increased over the last decade. The latest figures state that around 2,900 women are diagnosed every year, with cervical cancer causing in the region of 1,000 deaths.

The Chemotherapy CRG is working with members of the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that the review process of adding new drugs to the approved list is made quicker. A drug must be assessed on the available evidence, weighing up its efficiency and safety.

From the start of April, NHS England took over management of the Cancer Drugs Fund, which saw a single system created that decides what drugs should be approved across the nation, and under what conditions they should be made available.

Professor Peter Clark, chair of the Chemotherapy CRG, said: “This new addition to the list demonstrates NHS England’s commitment to achieving maximum benefit to patients from the £200 million Cancer Drugs Fund. The process of updating the list is led by cancer specialists, and should ensure that patients benefit quickly when new drugs become available that are backed by good evidence from trial data.”

The Cancer Drugs Fund donates an additional £200 million each year to enable patients with cancer in England to receive drugs that are not routinely funded by their local NHS.