Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the availability of treatment options for patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma whose disease has progressed or not responded to standard of care treatments.

NHS England has advised that there are two main drugs that are currently licensed for the treatment of patients who have failed standard therapies for their Hodgkin lymphoma; brentuximab and nivolumab.

Brentuximab is currently available through the Cancer Drugs Fund for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory CD30 positive Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising brentuximab and expects to publish final guidance in May 2017.

Nivolumab is licensed for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma who have progressed despite an autologous stem cell transplant and who have also received treatment with brentuximab. NICE is currently appraising nivolumab for use in this indication and expects to publish final guidance in July 2017. Nivolumab is not currently funded routinely in this indication.