- Thousands of women a year are missing out on bisphosphonates
- The drug stops breast cancer spreading to the bones
- It could save 1,180 lives a year in England, says Breast Cancer Now charity
Ben Spencer, Medical Correspondent For The Daily Mail
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Thousands of women with breast cancer are being needlessly denied life-saving pills that cost 34p a day, experts warn. File image
Thousands of women with breast cancer are being needlessly denied life-saving pills that cost 34p a day, experts warn.
An estimated 27,000 women a year are missing out on bisphosphonates – a drug that stops breast cancer spreading to the bones.
If everyone who could benefit from the drugs received them, 1,180 lives could be saved a year in England, according to charity Breast Cancer Now.
And its research revealed a lack of clear guidance on funding them was the main obstacle to prescriptions.
Bisphosphonates – typically used to treat osteoporosis – alter bone tissue, making it harder for cancer cells to survive there. They are already used for advanced prostate cancer patients.
The drugs have been hailed as having the potential to prevent about one in ten breast-cancer deaths, and could save the NHS millions of pounds a year.
But polling of 125 cancer specialists found only 24 per cent routinely used the drugs for breast-cancer patients – with 45 per cent saying confusion over funding was the main barrier.
In England it is unclear if paying for the drugs is the responsibility of the hospital trust or the local clinical commissioning group, or whether they should be funded centrally by NHS England, along with many other cancer treatments.
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Baroness Morgan of Drefelin, Breast Cancer Now’s chief executive, called for a national policy on funding the drugs.
She said: ‘While bisphosphonates are not routinely available to all eligible breast cancer patients, women’s lives are needlessly being put at risk.
‘These are cheap and widely available drugs and the overwhelming evidence of their ability to save lives should have changed practice by now. But they are still sitting on the shelf, blocked by bureaucratic inertia.’
Bisphosphonates are ‘licensed’ only for osteoporosis and for some women whose cancer has weakened the bone.
An estimated 27,000 women a year are missing out on bisphosphonates – a drug that stops breast cancer spreading to the bones. Pictured, breast cancer cells
They are widely considered useful and safe for breast cancer as well – but many doctors are uneasy about ‘off-licence’ use.
The drugs are unlikely to get a licence for breast cancer, as it would require huge investment in clinical trials. But research in the Lancet last year found the drugs could prevent at least 1,000 breast cancer deaths a year.
Postmenopausal women on bisphosphonates saw a 28 per cent reduction in the chances of their cancer coming back. The drugs cut the risk of dying from the disease during the ten years following diagnosis by 18 per cent.
Bisphosphonates can be taken for around three years, either as a daily tablet called ibandronate, costing 34p per day, or intravenously every six months with a drug called zoledronate, costing 4p a day.
Across both treatments, the full cost with consultant time and monitoring of side effects is 43p a day on average.
Professor Rob Coleman, of Sheffield University, said that the treatment should be made available ‘as a matter of urgency’.
And Professor Ian Smith, of the Breast Cancer Clinical Reference Group, said: ‘It is deeply concerning that such an inexpensive treatment known to improve survival for women with breast cancer is not being made available to all that could benefit.
‘In order to deliver the best quality breast cancer care to UK patients, the introduction of these drugs for all eligible women must now be our top priority.’
NHS England said decisions on the funding of the drugs were made locally but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence would consider their use in upcoming guidance.
GPs FAIL TO FAST-TRACK SKIN TESTS
Family doctors are failing to fast-track patients for skin-cancer tests, health watchdogs say.
Nearly 11,000 over-55s a year are told they have malignant melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer – up from 3,100 cases 20 years ago.
If a GP suspects skin cancer, patients should be fast-tracked to a specialist and seen within two weeks.
Yet only 56 per cent received a diagnosis this way according to the most recent data, from 2013.
Some 29 per cent of cases were diagnosed via the old standard GP referral route, which can mean a wait of four to six weeks.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) yesterday published ‘quality standard’ guidelines, stressing that GPs must use the fast-track diagnosis route.
Professor Gillian Leng, of NICE, said: ‘This quality standard tackles the key areas for improvement in skin cancer care, from promotion of the warning signs, to early diagnosis, to better treatment options. We want to improve the outcome for everyone diagnosed with skin cancer.’
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