NICE rejects drug for metastatic breast cancer because of cost and poor efficacy
BMJ 2010; 340 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c3145 (Published 11 June 2010) Cite this as: BMJ 2010;340:c3145
- Mark Pownall
- 1London
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has rejected use of the cancer drug lapatinib in advanced or metastatic breast cancer that is ErbB2/HER 2 positive because of the treatment’s high cost and “small extra benefit” compared with existing treatments.
Final draft guidance from NICE, which is not yet a formal recommendation to the NHS, says treatment with the drug costs about £25 000 (€30 100; $36 500) per year, and extends survival by about 10 weeks.
NICE concluded that “the drug did not represent good value for money when compared with the alternative, currently available …
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