Early referral of cancer drugs by UK Health Minister

The UK Secretary of State for Health, Patricia Hewitt, has announced her decision to make an early referral of two cancer drugs to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in advance of its 12th wave work programme.

The two cancer drugs are Herceptin (trastuzumab) used in the treatment of early stage breast cancer and Velcade (bortezomib) for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Herceptin (Trastuzumab) is not yet licensed for the treatment of early stage breast cancer. Trastuzumab is an anti-neoplastic agent currently in Phase III trials as an adjunct to the standard treatment for early (operable) breast cancer. Trastuzumab is already licenced for patients with metastatic breast cancer whose tumours over-express HER2 as a single agent for second and third line treatment, in combination with paclitaxel as first line therapy and in combination with docetaxel as first line therapy.