Charity Appeal On Cancer Drug Use

The life-prolonging cancer drug abiraterone should be made available to patients before undergoing chemotherapy, a cancer charity has said.

Prostate Cancer UK has appealed to the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) to approve wider use of the treatment on the NHS.

The drug is not yet routinely available before chemotherapy, when clinical trails indicate it can be more effective, it said.

Giving abiraterone before chemotherapy offers a ray of hope'' for men who are not physically or emotionally strong enough to endure a course of chemotherapy. Approved by the SMC in 2012, the treatment is designed to extend life and improve quality of life for those in the advanced stages of prostate cancer.

The SMC is expected to issue updated advice on abiraterone next month.

It is reportedly the drug which prolonged the life of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

He was released from a Scottish jail in 2009 on compassionate grounds following a terminal diagnosis and went on to live a further two-and-a-half years.

Prostate Cancer UK said the drug has been shown to delay the start of chemotherapy by an average of 9.7 months and increase overall survival by an average of 5.2 months.

Abiraterone treatment after chemotherapy increased life by an average of 3.9 months, it said.

The charity's call comes as it launches the latest phase of its Men United campaign which aims to highlight the importance of spending time with good friends and turning to them for emotional support in the event of a cancer diagnosis.

Chief executive Owen Sharp said: The SMC's decision on whether to approve abiraterone before chemotherapy brings this whole issue into focus.

Few things could do more to keep friendships alive than the approval of a life-enhancing and life-extending treatment for men with incurable prostate cancer.

Men United is our movement for everyone who believes that men are worth fighting for and I have that whole movement behind me when I reiterate our call for the SMC to do the right thing and approve this treatment for use in Scotland.

The treatment is widely available in England via the Cancer Drugs Fund and it's vital that it becomes routinely available throughout Scotland, and indeed the whole of the UK, as soon as possible.''

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with more than 10,000 dying every year in the UK.

An SMC spokeswoman said: We understand the devastating impact that prostate cancer has on both patients and their families.

SMC will issue advice on abiraterone on Monday February 9. We do not comment on decisions until they are made public.''