Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Albumin Bound Paclitaxel, Bevacizumab and Cabozantinib since the introduction of those drugs; and what discussions on this matter he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Assemblies.

Norman Lamb

We have had no such discussions.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has appraised the use of bevacizumab (Avastin) for a number of cancers including colorectal, breast, ovarian, non-small cell lung cancer and kidney cancer and has not been able to recommend the drug’s use as a clinical and cost-effective use of National Health Service resources in any of these appraisals.

NICE is currently appraising the use of paclitaxel albumin-bound nanoparticles (Abraxane) in treating advanced pancreatic cancer with final guidance expected in January 2015. NICE is also appraising this technology for use in the first-line treatment of metastatic melanoma, with final guidance expected in May 2015.

There are no plans for NICE to appraise cabozantinib (Cometriq) for the treatment of thyroid cancer.