NICE makes first immunotherapy combination immediately available in advanced kidney cancer

NICE has issued a Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) recommending the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) to treat NHS patients in England with an advanced form of the most common type of kidney cancer, renal cell carcinoma (RCC). This is the first approval of an immuno-oncology (I-O) combination therapy for first-line patients with this type of cancer in England. It works by stimulating the body’s immune system to recognise and eliminate cancer cells. Nivolumab and ipilimumab will be immediately available on the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) as a first-line treatment option for previously-untreated intermediate- and poor-prognostic risk advanced RCC, and could