25 February 2014 - A \"life-extending\" skin cancer drug should not be given to patients as a first-line treatment, NHS officials have said.
In draft guidance, NICE said that ipilimumab should only be used in newly diagnosed advanced malignant melanoma patients who are taking part in clinical trials. The prognosis for advanced melanoma is very poor, and those who are diagnosed often have just months to live. But manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb said that the therapy - which stimulates the patient's own immune system to fight cancer - has the potential to offer \"long term survival\" in some patients.
Guidance issued by NICE in December 2012, gave the go-ahead for use of the drug, which is also known as Yervoy, on the NHS for advanced malignant melanoma patients who have already undergone chemotherapy. At the time, NICE called the drug a \"breakthrough treatment\" saying that it could \"potentially significantly improve the prognosis for some people with malignant melanoma\".
Last year, European health officials extended the licence of the drug so it could also be used to treat previously untreated patients - not just ones who had undergone chemotherapy.
For more details, go to: http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/uk/restrictions-on-skin-cancer-drug-1.239101