New skin cancer drug given green light

A health body has recommended that a new drug developed to treat skin cancer should be made available on the NHS.

The drug, Dabrafenib (Tafinlar) which can help some patients with advanced stage melanoma, has been given the green light by NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence).

In final draft guidance, NICE has said that the drug should be used for patients whose cancer could not be completely removed by surgery, or whose cancer had spread, and had tested positive for the mutation.

NICE has already recommended Vemurafenib, which targets the same mutation, and Ipilimumab for advanced melanoma.

Director of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation at NICE, Prof Carole Longson, said “For a long time, the treatments available for skin cancer which has spread have been very limited.

“However, in recent years a number of breakthrough treatments that can potentially significantly improve the prognosis for some people with malignant melanoma have become available.

“NICE has already recommended Vemurafinib and Ipilimumab, and we hope to add Dabrafenib to the list of options available.”

Interim Chief Executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, Prof Paul Workman, welcomed the decision.

“Its approval underlines the importance of a new generation of cancer drugs targeted at specific molecular features of tumours – drugs which after years of painstaking development are now making their way to patients.”

Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, Prof Peter Johnson, said “This decision provides patients with more options to help them survive this aggressive cancer for longer.

“While the drug does not provide a cure, it represents the progress made in our understanding of biology in advanced skin cancer and how this can be used to develop innovative treatments to beat the disease.”

Malignant melanoma accounts for 4% of all new cases of cancer, and is the fifth most common in the UK.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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