The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), a health supervisory body, has stated that the cancer drug, Glivec (imatinib), recommended for treating gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) would no longer be used on NHS, as it failed to possess evidences regarding its long-term effectiveness.
In the UK, every year 900 people get affected with GSIT lying within the ages 50 and 60. Glivec is prescribed for such patients who cannot be treated with surgery.
Nice reviewed the use of the said drug for patients whose tumour has been removed and for those who have chances of getting affected by tumour again. No significant results came up and Glivec didn’t show any solid evidences of prolonging life. It didn’t even determine a specific time-frame for which it should be taken. It was also found out that the drug is ineffective if it is used after the recurrence of the cancer.
The drug would face another appraisal in 2011, when more evidences will get revealed.
"At around £19,500 per patient per year, this is an expensive drug, and we need to be more confident about how well it works and what its side-effects are before we consider recommending it for use in the NHS”, said Andrew Dillon, Chief Executive of Nice.
Earlier, Nice also refused the use of drug Avastin for people with later stage of bowel cancer, which increases patients’ life by six weeks if given along with chemotherapy and costs £21,000 per patient.
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