Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NICE plans to amend its guidance on the treatment of locally advanced high-risk non-metastatic prostate cancer to recommend the use of abiraterone acetate in England.

Abiraterone is not licensed for the treatment of non-metastatic prostate cancer and has therefore not been appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (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.

NICE will consider the impact of NHS England’s work on its guideline on the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer in due course.