New treatment option for ovarian cancer patients in Scotland
pharmafile | September 8, 2015 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Roche, Scotland, avastin, ovarian cancer
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has approved the use of Avastin in combination with paclitaxel chemotherapy as a treatment for women with recurrent ovarian cancer that is resistant to platinum-containing chemotherapy.
The approval marks the first time that a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) body in the UK has recommended Avastin (bevacizumab), produced by Roche, to be routinely funded on the NHS, and provides a new treatment option for the notoriously difficult-to-treat condition.
Ovarian cancer is traditionally associated with a poor prognosis, few therapeutic options and the possibility of relapse or death after treatment. In Scotland, 615 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year, and in 2011, ovarian cancer was the sixth most frequently diagnosed cancer in women, representing 3.7% of all newly-diagnosed cancers in Scotland.
Platinum-resistant disease is defined as patients with disease progression between one and six months following completion of their platinum-based chemotherapy. While some patients will benefit from platinum containing chemotherapy, the majority of patients with advanced disease relapse within five years and become treatment resistant.
The approval was granted based on data showing that the addition of Avastin to chemotherapy nearly doubled the median progression free survival (PFS) (the time people live without their disease worsening) from 3.4 months to 6.7 months.
Delaying disease progression and maintaining quality of life are both considered to be important goals in the treatment of advanced cancer, offering people with cancer extended time with family and loved ones.
“We applaud the SMC for ensuring that patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, the most difficult type to treat, will have access to Avastin in Scotland”, says Katherine Taylor, chief executive of charity Ovarian Cancer Action. “With more than 7,000 women in the UK diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year, it’s vital that women living with the disease have access to as many effective, proven treatments as possible.”
Professor Nick Reed, consultant clinical oncologist, Beatson Oncology Centre, comments: “The treatment of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer is one of the most challenging conditions in managing gynaecological cancers. The exciting announcement from SMC that will allow the use of Avastin in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer is a most welcome and positive development and will allow women in Scotland access to a previously unavailable drug. Until now the options for this group of patients have been very limited and generally of low effectiveness. This is a positive development.”
Joel Levy
Related Content
Genentech’s Columbi meets primary endpoint in phase 3 trial for lymphoma treatment
Genentech, part of the Roche Group, has announced that its phase 3 STARGLO trial has …
TILT Biotherapeutics shares data on TILT-123 with Keytruda for ovarian cancer treatment
TILT Biotherapeutics has announced promising preliminary safety and efficacy data from its ongoing phase 1 …
Lonza to acquire biologics site in Vacaville, US from Roche for $1.2bn
Lonza has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Genentech large-scale biologics …
