11 June 2015 - Cancer charities have reacted with disappointment to news that a drug to treat advanced prostate cancer has not been deemed cost-effective for the NHS by health officials. 

Enzalutamide is currently available on the Cancer Drugs Fund in England, which enables patients to access drugs that would not otherwise have been routinely available from the NHS. 

But the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has published draft guidance in which it says the drug has not been proven to work well enough for the price the NHS must pay for it.

The drug, also called Xtandi, is licensed to treat people with prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body who have not yet had chemotherapy, and in whom treatments to lower the amount of male sex hormones - which normally stop the cancer from growing and spreading - no longer work.

Nice said there were also too many uncertainties associated with the evidence provided by drug manufacturer Astellas Pharma. 

Nice chief executive Sir Andrew Dillon said: "The clinical trial results showed enzalutamide can extend life when compared with placebo, but it was not clear for how long.

"This was because there were uncertainties associated with way the company had carried out adjustments to take account of the effect on length of life of treatments used when enzalutamide is no longer effective.

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