New pancreatic cancer treatment saves NHS £3,200 per patient

A pancreatic cancer treatment pathway saved the NHS £3,200 per patient, research published in HPB Journal has found.

The pilot, funded by Pancreatic Cancer UK and held at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, increased the number of patients whose surgery was successful by 22 per cent, and reduced the average time to surgery from two months to just over two weeks.

Pancreatic Cancer UK says the results are exciting because if the pathway was rolled out UK-wide, it could see hundreds more patients each year having surgery which successfully removes their tumour. It is the one treatment for the cancer which can save lives. The charity said it would be a significant breakthrough for a cancer which has seen very little progress in treatments since the 1970s.

Consultant Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgeon Keith Roberts and his team focused on ways of reducing the time it takes for patients to have surgery, to see if it meant more of those patients had their tumour successfully removed.

The team worked with hospitals to speed up referrals for patients and reorganised the way surgery was carried out. The cut out a treatment given to patients before the surgery for the symptom of jaundice, and reduced the time to surgery from an average of 65 days to 16.

The savings to the NHS were made by cutting out the treatment for jaundice before surgery, as well as reducing complications and hospital readmissions after surgery.

Currently, only eight per cent of pancreatic cancer patients in the UK have surgery to successfully remove their tumour. This is because the majority of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when surgery is not an option.

Less than seven per cent of pancreatic cancer patients will live beyond five years after diagnosis in the UK.

Keith Roberts, who is also a member of Pancreatic Cancer UK’s Medical Advisory Board, said: “We have shown that it is possible to create a much faster path to surgery for pancreatic cancer patients within the NHS, which could have a significant impact on survival. We carried out surgery earlier, avoided unpleasant and costly pre-surgery treatment, and yet there was no significant increase in complications post-surgery. At University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust we hope to permanently fund the pathway, and I am sharing the results of our pilot far and wide, in the hope that more trusts will roll it out.”

Alex Ford, chief executive of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: “These results are incredibly exciting. Surgery is the only treatment for pancreatic cancer that can save lives. If we can ensure that hundreds more patients have their tumour successfully removed each year, it could be a huge breakthrough in treatment.

“The exceptional element of this pilot is that it saved the NHS £3,200 per patient. If we could see this pathway rolled out across the board, those savings could be reinvested into specialist nurses who could make the journey to surgery even quicker. Those nurses would in turn be a game-changer for pancreatic cancer care, and create more savings for the NHS too. We urge NHS England and specialist health commissioners across the UK to take heed of these results and allow hundreds more patients each year to have potentially life-saving surgery far more quickly.”