NICE has today (Thursday, 18 December) recommended a new
first-line treatment option which could benefit just over a
thousand people with advanced lung cancer.
Amivantamab, also known
as Rybrevant plus lazertinib, also known
as Lazcluze, both made by Johnson & Johnson,
is recommended in final draft guidance for adults with
advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with
specific EGFR gene mutations.
Advanced NSCLC is when the cancer has spread beyond the
lungs to distant parts of the body. It is estimated
around 1,115 people in England will be eligible
for this combination treatment.
Amivantamab is given as an injection every
two weeks. It works by targeting and attaching
to 2 proteins found on cancer
cells, helping to slow or stop the cancer from growing
and potentially reducing the tumour size.
Lazertinib is taken as a daily pill.
The usual treatment for this form of NSCLC
is osimertinib plus
chemotherapy or osimertinib alone.
Clinical trial evidence shows
that amivantamab plus lazertinib increases
how long people have before their condition gets worse and how
long people live compared
with osimertinib alone.
Lung cancer is the third most common cancer and the most common
cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for 10% of all new
cancer cases and 20% of all cancer deaths in 2020. In 2021,
around 31,000 people diagnosed with lung cancer in England (91%)
had NSCLC.
The company has confidential commercial arrangements in place
which
make amivantamab and lazertinib available
to the NHS with a discount.
Read the full final draft guidance for amivantamab with lazertinib for
untreated EGFR mutation-positive advanced non-small-cell lung
cancer.
