NHS yet to accept 'wonderdrug' for ovarian cancer

By Iona Bain

A superdrug that extends the lives of women with ovarian cancer has been approved by the European medicines' watchdog, but is only readily available through health insurance.

Avastin (bevacizumab) is already licensed to treat colon, kidney and bowel cancer, but trials last year found that the drug can also give women in the later stages of ovarian cancer an extra six months of life.

It was heralded as the biggest breakthrough in the fight against ovarian cancer for 20 years. Avastin is the first targeted drug to gain EU approval for ovarian cancer - previously, patients with the disease could only be treated via chemotherapy and surgery.

But the drug has not been approved for use on the NHS yet. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has previously rejected the use of Avastin for routine treatment against bowel and kidney cancer, arguing that the benefits did not justify the £23,000 cost of treating each patient with the drug.

However, two leading health insurers have recently abolished limits on cancer cover, meaning that they will now fund all types of treatment recommended by medical specialists in full, including targeted drugs like Avastin.

AXA PPP and Aviva have both promised to pay for treatment as long as it's needed - previously, superdrugs were only available to patients for a year or for the period of the drugs license (whichever is shorter).

Unless cancer sufferers have private health insurance, Avastin is only available through the Cancer Drugs Fund in England, and doctors elsewhere in the country can make individual applications for funding on behalf of their patients.