10 July 2017 - Medicines for lung cancer, lymphoma and Crohn’s disease accepted for routine use by NHSScotland.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium has today published advice accepting three new medicines for routine use by NHSScotland.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer was accepted following consideration through SMC’s Patient and Clinician Engagement (PACE) process, for medicines used at the end of life and for very rare conditions. It can delay disease progression and may allow some patients a good quality of life in the context of limited remaining months. Through PACE, patient groups and clinicians shared that there are limited treatment options for these patients and that the side effects of current chemotherapy treatments are often difficult to manage. Pembrolizumab may be better tolerated than current treatments so patients may spend less time in day chemotherapy units. It also provides a treatment option for those patients who are not suitable for chemotherapy and for whom there is currently no alternative.

Nivolumab (Opdivo) for Hodgkin lymphoma (a cancer of the white blood cells) was also accepted through PACE. Nivolumab is used to treat patients for whom all other treatment options have been exhausted. PACE participants highlighted that patients tend to be extremely debilitated and have poor quality of life. They reported that the response rates seen with nivolumab are unprecedented in such heavily pre-treated patients. Nivolumab rapidly reduces symptoms and may improve patients’ quality of life. It may also provide some younger patients with a ‘bridge’ to stem cell transplant which could be potentially curative.

Read SMC press release