A DRUG which has been shown to extend the life of patients with advanced breast cancer has been rejected on cost grounds.
Perjeta, also known as pertuzumab, was turned down by the Scottish Medicines Consortium for use on the NHS.
The decision comes weeks after Kadcyla, another drug to treat secondary breast cancer, was rejected by the SMC.
Clinical trials have shown the drug, when used with Herceptin offers a 16 month extension of life to women with terminal HER2-positive secondary breast cancer.
It is the second time Perjeta has been rejected by the SMC.
James Jopling, Breakthrough Breast Cancer's Director for Scotland, said: "Women with breast cancer will still be reeling following the rejection of Kadcyla a few weeks ago, and now they have been hit with this devastating news.
"Women urgently need these drugs; knowing they are available, and then being denied access to them is cruel."
Meanwhile, two drugs to treat Hepatitis C and advanced skin cancer were approved for use on the NHS in Scotland.
Scotland is the first country in Europe to approve Daclatasvir for Hep C treatment. The SMC also accepted Yervoy (ipilimumab) for adult patients in Scotland with previously-untreated advanced skin cancer.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article