New anti-cancer drugs may end postcode lottery

A drug hailed as a breakthrough in breast cancer treatment was approved yesterday for the treatment of lung cancer among patients in the National Health Service. Taxol, made from an extract of yew bark, could give thousands of patients extra months of life.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) ruled the drug should be made widely available on the NHS for advanced lung cancer. It is already approved for use against breast and ovarian cancer.

Three other lung cancer drugs, Taxotere (docetaxel), Gemzar (gemcittabine) and Navelbine (vonorelbine) were also approved as part of combination therapies for the most common form of lung cancer, which claims 27,000 lives a year. The decision could end so-called "postcode prescribing" of the most effective lung cancer drugs.

Dr Jesme Baird, director of patient care at the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said it was a "significant milestone" in lung cancer treatment. "These treatments have been shown to improve quality of life and extend survival of patients with advanced disease. I hope health authorities will act immediately to implement this guidance."

Dr Nick Thatcher, consultant at the University of Manchester, said the drugs were a step forward. "Nice is to be congratulated. Clinicians should now be able to prescribe these agents without delays."

Michael Leahy, senior consultant at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, said patients would obtain a modest benefit.

The drugs are recommended for use with patients in advanced stages of the most common lung cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCL), in combination and often where other treatments have not been effective. NSCL affects 80 per cent of the 42,000 people diagnosed with lung cancer each year. More than 80 per cent of NSCL patients die within one year, with only 5 per cent living five years.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer in Britain and one of the most difficult to treat. Britain has a poor record of cancer treatment compared with other European countries, with 30,000 lung cancer deaths a year. The most common cause is smoking, with other contributory factors including radon gas, occupational hazards, a diet low in fruit and vegetables and air pollution.

The three drugs are among the first effective forms of chemotherapy approved for use in the NHS. Nice has recommended Taxol, Gemzar and Navelbine for initial drug treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC.

Taxotere is recommended for patients who have failed to respond to other forms of chemotherapy. In each case the drugs are recommended in combination therapy with at least one of the others.

Guidance to health authorities means patients should no longer be refused the therapy for cost reasons. Brad Timms, science information officer at the Cancer Research Campaign, said: "This ruling should help eliminate the variation of treatment."

Dr Jane Maher, chief medical officer at Macmillan Cancer Relief, said: "Until now, patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, who could potentially have benefited from chemotherapy, have been denied access to the most effective drugs."

But, she added, it was important that NHS spending on chemotherapy did not divert resources from other aspects of cancer care such as information, the control of symptoms and specialist services.