A drug that can prolong the lives of patients with advanced liver cancer has been rejected for use in the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said the cost of Nexavar – about £3,000 a month – was "simply too high".
But Macmillan Cancer Support said the decision was "a scandal".
More than 3,000 people are diagnosed with liver cancer every year in the UK and their prognosis is generally poor.
Only about 20% of patients are alive one year after diagnosis, dropping to just 5% after five years.
‘Disappointed’
Nexavar – also known as sorafenib – had already been rejected in Scotland, despite studies showing it could extend the life of a liver cancer patient by up to 6 months.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium ruled that "the manufacturer’s justification of the treatment’s cost in relation to its benefit was not sufficient to gain acceptance".
Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE, agreed: "The price being asked by [the manufacturer] Bayer is simply too high to justify using NHS money which could be spent on better value cancer treatments."
Nexavar is routinely offered to cancer patients elsewhere in the world, and Mike Hobday, head of campaigns at Macmillan Cancer Support, said he was "extremely disappointed" at NICE’s decision.
"It is a scandal that the only licensed drug proven to significantly prolong the lives of people with this devastating disease has been rejected, leaving them with no treatment options," he said.
Earlier this year, a government review of end-of-life treatment said NICE should give extra weight to drugs that could extend a patient’s life.
The Department of Health said NICE was not ignoring that recommendation, but the NHS could not just pay for any drug at any cost.
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