NICE recommends GSK's ZEJULA for advanced ovarian cancer14 Jan 2021 15:37
14/01/21
NICE has recommended the use of GlaxoSmithKline’s ZEJULA (niraparib) on the NHS in England for adult women with advanced high-grade epithelial ovarian cancer, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer, who have completed and shown a response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
The drug will now be made immediately available through the Cancer Drugs Fund for women regardless of whether or not they have a BRCA gene mutation, meaning up to 3,000 people could potentially benefit from the medicine.
Niraparib, a once-daily oral medicine given when advanced ovarian cancer is in remission in order to delay its return, is a PARP inhibitor that works by preventing ovarian cancer cells from being able to repair damage to their DNA. The aim of treatment is to put off the need for further chemotherapy for as long possible, allowing women to live the best quality of life they can.
The treatment has been shown to significantly extend the time it took for a woman’s cancer to return, and in some participants in its pivotal Phase III trial, this was by over a year compared with placebo.
Ovarian cancer remains a significant health challenge in the UK, where incidence rates are among the highest in Europe, and survival rates are among the lowest. Of the approximately 7,500 women that are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the UK each year, nearly 60% will be diagnosed at a late stage, where their cancer has spread and is potentially incurable.
Jonathan Ledermann, Professor of Medical Oncology at the UCL Cancer Institute and Director of the Cancer Research UK and UCL Cancer Trials Centre, said: “Today’s decision marks a turning point in advanced ovarian cancer treatment, allowing clinicians to use a key therapy at an earlier phase of treatment and in many more women than ever before.
“This could significantly increase the likelihood that we can delay a woman’s cancer from progressing – for months, perhaps even years longer than is currently possible. Maintenance therapy has already changed how we treat ovarian cancer and the decision to recommend niraparib is