Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to take steps to increase access to Abiraterone.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that provides evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance.

NICE has published guidance recommending abiraterone for the treatment of metastatic hormone-relapsed prostate cancer before chemotherapy is indicated and for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen. NHS England funds abiraterone for these indications of prostate cancer in line with NICE’s recommendations, making it routinely available for the treatment of eligible patients.

Abiraterone is not licensed for the treatment of non-metastatic prostate cancer and has therefore not been appraised by NICE for such use. NHS England is currently considering a clinical policy proposal for abiraterone as a treatment option for patients newly diagnosed with high risk, non-metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, or in whom prostate cancer has relapsed after at least 12 months without treatment. This specific policy proposal is due to be discussed later this month, and if supported by a clinical panel it will progress to stakeholder testing by January 2024.