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A drug used to elongate the lives of those with triple negative breast cancer is not being recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as it is “too expensive”.
In the draft guidance, NICE said sacituzumab govitecan (Trodelvy) is too costly to be considered as a cost-effective use of NHS resources, despite the benefits to patients.
Triple negative breast cancer is a particularly aggressive disease, and while it only accounts for 15% of all breast cancer cases, it is responsibly for a quarter of all breast cancer deaths in England.
Currently, there are around 2,000 people in England with triple negative breast cancer, 650 of whom would have been eligible for treatment with sacituzumab govitecan if it had been recommended by NICE.
NICE “very disappointed” they are unable to recommend the treatment
The treatment was being considered for patients with triple negative breast cancer which can’t be removed surgically and which has spread nearby from where it started (locally advanced) or has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic).
Because triple-negative breast cancer is not sensitive to hormone therapy or molecular targeted therapy, the usual treatment is chemotherapy. The aim of treatment is to stop the disease getting worse, extend life, and maintain or improve quality of life for as long as possible.
Helen Knight, interim director of medicines evaluation at NICE, said: “Because sacituzumab govitecan is a highly effective treatment, and given the lack of treatment options for people with this type of breast cancer, we’re very disappointed that its price means we can’t recommend it for use in the NHS at this point.”
She added that NICE hope the company, Gilead Sciences, will consider what it can do to enable NICE to approve a treatment that “has the potential to give people with advanced triple negative breast cancer more time with their loved ones.”
The draft guidance is available for consultation until 29 April 2022.