Sort of OT, but not really.
This article is why you don't want socialized medicine in the way NHS operates. If numbers like 40% aren't enough to get your attention, you don't need to be in the business of deciding health care choices for your population.
Prologue:  Adding abiraterone to standard treatment improves prostate cancer survival by 40 percent
(Adding abiraterone to hormone therapy at the start of treatment for prostate cancer improves survival by 37 per cent, according to the results of one of the largest ever clinical trials for prostate cancer presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine today (Saturday).>
Prostate cancer drug given initial 'no' for NHS in EnglandJune 8, 2018, Cancer Research UKA prostate cancer drug has been provisionally rejected as a first-line treatment on the NHS in England.
The draft recommendation from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) means abiraterone (Zytiga) won't be made routinely available for men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
As it stands, the NHS in England can only prescribe abiraterone for these men once standard hormone treatment or chemotherapy has failed.
Results from recent clinical trials have shown that giving abiraterone alongside steroids and as a first-line treatment can reduce the chance of the cancer coming back and improve survival compared to hormone therapy alone.
Sir Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, called the decision "disappointing". "Two clinical trials published last year provided compelling evidence of the huge potential benefit of abiraterone for these patients," he said.
What does the decision mean?
NICE published its draft recommendation this week, rejecting abiraterone as a first-line therapy. The committee concluded they couldn't accurately estimate the drug's cost effectiveness based on the data submitted.
The drug's manufacturer, Janssen, can now submit additional data, which will be reviewed later this summer before a final decision is reached.
A NICE spokesperson told The Telegraph : "We understand that some men with prostate cancer will be disappointed by today's news.
"However, we can only recommend drugs that are clinically effective and show value for money compared to current treatment options. In this case, abiraterone has fallen short." (well, only if you're the NHS decisionmaker).
Kumar urged NICE and Janssen to work together quickly to provide the information that will allow the drug to be recommended.
What does the decision REALLY mean [i-node opinion]
The US will have to foot the bill to move forward with this essential treatment as British men are told to "drop dead", until we have recovered the development costs, after which British men will get a low cost effective treatment.
The US should INSIST that Brits and others carry there share of development costs if they want to receive the benefits of expensive immunotherapy agents.
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