A NEW class of drug that delays the effects of ovarian cancer has been hailed as a “milestone” treatment.
Niraparib comes in pill form and targets cancers with defective DNA repair systems.
Studies of the the drug have shown its use can keep ovarian cancer at bay, and it has the potential to prolong the lives of sufferers.
The pill is still to be assessed to determine whether it will be freely available on the NHS, but it has now been licensed for use in the UK.
Results from trials of niraparib have shown that it can extend the lives of patients by several months before the disease returns following chemotherapy.
Some sufferers of ovarian cancer who have an inherited BRCA gene mutation were found to have an increased relapse time of 21 months when taking the drug, compared to 5.5 months with chemotherapy alone.
To a lesser degree it also aided women who had the disease but not a BRCA mutation, doubling the length of time before recurrence of the cancer.
The breakthrough has been welcomed by members of the medical profession, including Professor Jonathan Ledermann from the University College London Cancer Institute. He hailed the drug as the first of its kind.
“Niraparib is the first treatment of its class licensed to delay the progression of ovarian cancer following platinum-based chemotherapy, regardless of BRCA status,” he said.
“This represents a critical milestone in the management of ovarian cancer.
“Access to effective and tolerable medicines is sorely needed, and the hope is that niraparib will be available in the NHS as quickly as possible.”
Ovarian cancer has been called a “silent killer” because it is often spotted late and at a deadly stage. Each year about 7400 women in the UK are diagnosed with the condition, and 4,128 die from the disease annually.
Chances of a relapse are extremely high, with about 85 per cent of patients seeing the disease return after chemotherapy.
Decisions about which drugs are offered on the NHS north of the Border are taken by the Scottish Medicines Consortium, which follows similar guidelines to those of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence covering England and Wales.
Decision-making processes balances clinical effectiveness and value for money.
“The outlook for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer can be bleak. Current treatment lags behind other and better known cancers and survival rates are low,” said Katherine Taylor, chief executive of the charity Ovarian Cancer Action.
“Today’s news is an encouraging step in the right direction but we now need to ensure all UK women diagnosed with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer can benefit.
“We call upon the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Scottish Medicines Consortium to approve this drug to provide more treatment options for those diagnosed with ovarian cancer – for many women this could be life changing.”
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