Lung cancer pill on NHS in 2007

	Tweet

A new take-it-at-home pill, said to prolong the lives of patients with lung cancer, was launched today - but it will not be available on the NHS in Northern Ireland until 2007.

Tarceva is believed to increase one-year survival by nearly half for patients with the disease - Ulster’s biggest killer.

Research-based healthcare group Roche, which launched the drug today, described the treatment as “revolutionary”

It said it has been proven to reduce the debilitating symptoms of lung cancer, such as breathlessness, pain and cough, with fewer serious or life-threatening side-effects than standard chemotherapy.

However, NHS patients in Northern Ireland will not be able to get the drug until 2007 when it is anticipated the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) will review the treatment.

In the meantime, it is available through three private healthcare insurers, BUPA, AXA PPP and Standard Life.

RELATED STORIES:
Lung Cancer: Who is a Candidate for Surgery?   More signs lung cancer screening could save lives   Roche’s Tarceva helps lung cancer patients   BATTLE Links Potential Biomarkers to Drugs for Lung Cancer   Plant product may help prevent lung cancer   Genetic mutation associated with increased risk of lung cancer   An “HIV-test” Equivalent for the Early Detection of Lung Cancer   Daily drinking may raise risk of several cancers   Antibodies may point to early lung cancer   A new way to look at lung cancer and tobacco carcinogens   Study Helps Explain Why Black Patients with Lung Cancer Have Surgery Less Often than Whites   Dietary Phytoestrogens Reduce Risk of Lung Cancer   Lung cancer slowed by Pfizer drug   New targeted therapy adds benefit to erlotinib in some patients with advanced lung cancer   Dual Gene Therapy Suppresses Lung Cancer in Preclinical Test   Gene is Linked to Lung Cancer Development in Never Smokers   Chest x-rays detect early lung cancer   Blacks more likely to die of curable lung cancer than whites   Pot smoking not a major lung cancer threat   Gene Expression Profiling Advance for Lung Cancer Prognosis   Drug fights tumors in advanced lung cancer   Lung cancer patients need help to quit smoking

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]