Hundreds more people with an aggressive form of blood cancer can
now be offered hope of a cure and “a new lease of life” from
today thanks to an NHS drug rollout.
Glofitamab (Columvi®) will now be offered to around 300 people a
year with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
(DLBCL) — a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma which has returned or
not responded to chemotherapy — following approval by the
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence today.
This means people whose cancer has returned or not responded
after just one previous course of treatment can now receive
glofitamab faster - potentially avoiding gruelling rounds of
treatment, with the drug previously only available to patients
who had already undergone two types of treatment.
The drug given every three weeks via an intravenous infusion will
be available from today thanks to the NHS fast-tracking access
through its Cancer Drugs Fund, which provides patients with
quicker access to the latest innovative cancer therapies.
Almost six in ten people with late-staged DLBCL saw their cancer
go into complete remission after a course of glofitamab in
combination with chemotherapy, during clinical trials.
Around 5,500 people are diagnosed with this cancer each year in
England, which mainly affects men aged 65 and over, with the most
common symptom being painless swellings of the glands.
Clinical trial data also shows that glofitamab, when given with
chemotherapy, significantly increases survival and delays disease
progression compared with a current standard treatment (R-GemOx).
More than half [54%] of people treated with glofitamab were still
alive, compared with just over a third [34%] of those given the
standard treatment in the clinical trial after two years
following the treatment.
, 70, a retired inland
waterways captain from Northumberland, was treated with
glofitamab following a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer and has been
in complete remission since February.
He said: “I'll be forever grateful to the NHS
for giving me access to this treatment. The care I received at
the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle was exceptional, and I was
genuinely stunned by how effective the treatment was.
"I never imagined I'd hear the words ‘complete remission' after a
stage 4 diagnosis, but in February that's exactly what I was
told. It gave me a new lease of life – I've been able to enjoy
things I thought were lost to me, like spending the summer
boating with my family in Sweden.”
“I am so pleased to hear that the glofit treatment is going to be
available for people after only one previous treatment.
Congratulations to all involved in bringing this wonderful course
of treatment to the NHS. More developments can only improve our
lives and hopefully reduce the anguish that families undergo when
confronted with these diseases.”
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England's National Clinical
Director for Cancer, said: “Antibodies such as
glofitamab that harness the power of the immune system to target
lymphoma, are transforming the way people are treated and helping
to boost the number of people cured.
“This is excellent news for patients with this aggressive form of
blood cancer, with the NHS fast-tracking this cutting-edge
treatment so that more people can benefit.
"It's already changing lives, with people like Chris able to
enjoy more precious time with their families.”
Dr Wendy Osborne is a Consultant Haematologist at The
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is part of
the team who treated Chris. She said: "The availability
of glofitamab has made such a huge difference for many patients,
like Chris, and I'm so pleased that it will now be available to
hundreds more patients earlier in their cancer.
"I have patients alive now who would have sadly died from high
grade lymphoma if treatments like this had not been fast tracked
by the Cancer Drugs Fund - it is such a vital part of the NHS's
cancer care."
The Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), which opened in its current form in
July 2016, is used by NHS England to provide fast-tracked access
for patients to all new cancer treatments approved by the
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. The CDF also
enables access to promising new treatments that need more
real-world data before a long-term NHS decision is made – this is
called managed access.
The CDF is now helping around 1,000 patients every month to
access new treatments faster, with more than 108,000 patients
accessing the latest cancer medicines on the NHS since its
introduction in July 2016.
Over 300 cancer treatment approvals have been fast-tracked via
the Cancer Drugs Fund, with 50 new options added in the past 18
months alone.
For background:
The CDF includes medicines for the treatment of common cancers,
such as breast, lung, colorectal and prostate, as well as those
less common cancers, such as ovarian, cervical, kidney, skin,
myeloma, lymphoma and leukaemia, and rare cancers, including
thyroid and biliary tract.
STARGLO trial (24-month follow-up): Patients treated with
glofitamab plus GemOx had an around 42% lower risk of death and
an around 59% lower risk of disease progression over two years
compared with those given rituximab plus GemOx, meaning more
people were alive and progression-free at two years on the
glofitamab regimen.
Further clinical trial data available here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12332916/1
