New secondary breast cancer treatment made available under Cancer Drugs Fund

Patients with advanced breast cancer could benefit from new treatments which have been 'fast-tracked' and made available to patients under the NHS Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

The drug, alpelisib, will be used in combination with the hormone therapy, fulvestrant, to target the gene that causes fast-growing tumours.

£340 million of funding allows the NHS to make the drugs available to patients while further data is collected by the manufacturer and then used by NICE to support their final recommendations. It is the 100th cancer treatment being made available under the CDF.

The drug combination works by blocking the rogue gene’s ability to help cancer cells to survive and grow. A key study shows that in half of the people who received alpelisib with fulvestrant after previous treatment, their cancer did not progress for six months

This treatment, manufactured by Novartis, is part of a growing number of precision treatments that target a tumour based on mutations in its DNA.

John Stewart, NHS National Director for Specialised Commissioning said:

“In just over five years, more than 80,000 people have benefitted from earlier access to a range of cancer drugs, with people in England having access to nearly one third more cancer drugs compared to the European average, and this latest innovative new treatment will help up to 3,000 more to live a better quality of life.

“This life-extending breast cancer treatment is the 100th to be rapidly made available to NHS patients thanks to the Cancer Drugs Fund, and will help people with secondary breast cancer to live longer.”

Before prescribing the drug, clinicians will take a small amount of tissue from a patient’s tumour and send it to a NHS Genomic Laboratory Hub for a new genomic test that can identify and then treat the tumour, if appropriate.

If this new test, which is now part of the National Genetic Testing Directory, shows a mutation in the specific gene called PIK3CA, then this targeted treatment could be offered to those who have not responded to other treatments.

A blood test could also be used to demonstrate circulating tumour DNA which can also show the specific mutation causing the cancer.

Breast cancer patients that have received prior treatment with an endocrine and CDK4/6 inhibitor will be able to benefit from this treatment on the NHS after the medicines regulator, the MHRA, extended the licence for the treatment in December 2021.

Professor Dame Sue Hill, Chief Scientific Officer for England and the Senior Responsible Officer for NHS Genomics said:

“This is another powerful example of how genomic testing is supporting access to precision medicine for individuals living with cancer and allowing them to access more effective treatments on the NHS.

“Genomics is helping to revolutionise cancer care and the NHS Genomic Medicine Service is leading the way in delivering the latest genomic technologies to deliver better outcomes for patients.”