NICE has today (Tuesday, 21 April) recommended a new combination
treatment for a rare type of advanced lung cancer for routine NHS
use in England, with clinical data suggesting it is better
tolerated than the existing standard of care.
Encorafenib plus binimetinib is recommended
in final draft guidance as a first-line
treatment option for adults with advanced
non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has a specific BRAF
V600E gene mutation.
Around 200 people in England are eligible
to benefit from this combination treatment.
Both medicines are taken as tablets at
home - encorafenib once a day
and binimetinib twice a day.
It works by targeting the protein
that causes cancer cells to
grow, thereby slowing down or stopping the
tumours from growing further.
Until now, the standard treatment for this type of lung cancer
has been a combination called dabrafenib plus trametinib.
While effective, this treatment can cause side effects - most
notably fever - which leads to some people having to stop
treatment. This can affect how well the treatment controls the
cancer over time and can result in hospital admissions, use of
antibiotics and additional scans.
Clinical trial data
suggests encorafenib plus binimetinib causes
fever far less often than the existing treatment, meaning fewer
hospital visits and a reduced burden on patients and their
families.
The results of an indirect
comparison also suggest
that encorafenib plus binimetinib may
be more effective and better tolerated than dabrafenib
plus trametinib, the standard treatment for this form of
cancer.
Non-small-cell lung cancer accounts for around 91% of all
lung cancers. The BRAF V600E mutation is rare,
affecting around 2% of all lung cancers.
The company has confidential commercial
arrangements
for encorafenib and binimetinib.
These
make encorafenib and binimetinib available
to the NHS with a discount.
Read the full final draft guidance for encorafenib with binimetinib for
treating BRAF V600E mutation-positive advanced non-small-cell
lung cancer.
Notes to editors
Encorafenib (also known as Braftovi)
plus binimetinib (also known as Mektovi), are both
made by Pierre Fabre.
