NICE have approved Cancer Drugs Funding for up 2 years treatment with some immunotherapy drugs as guided by clinical trials. For some patients the drugs result in stable disease to 2 years and may continue for longer. We ask the government to provide funding to extend this beyond 2 years.
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My partner has metastatic cancer resistant to standard chemotherapy. In Dec 2017 Merck funded treatment with the immunotherapy drug Pembrolizumab and funding was subsequently approved for up to 2 years through the Cancer Drugs Fund.
My partner responded well, the treatment continued and the cancerous nodes regressed to normal size.
In Dec 2019 the funding and treatment ended. Devastating.
It seems unethical and mentally damaging for cancer patients that funding for such treatments ends when the drug is clearly working. We are therefore asking NICE to extend funding for such patients or to fund further treatment if the disease returns.