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Life-saving
chemotherapy treatments now more widely available to patients with
advanced colorectal cancer following new NICE guidance
Pfizer
welcomes the new National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE)
Guidance for the treatment of colorectal cancer.
This new guidance now recommends the use of its chemotherapy
agent, Campto® (irinotecan) in combination with
5-fluorouracil and folinic acid (5FU/FA), as a standard 1st-line therapy
for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer.
This
news has been particularly well received amongst colorectal oncologists
who petitioned for an early review of the Guidance, believing the
original 2002 NICE Guidance – which recommended restricted use of both
Campto and oxaliplatin – potentially denied patients the survival
benefits associated with Campto. Commenting
on the new Guidance, Professor David Cunningham, Consultant Oncologist
from the Royal Marsden, Director
of Press PR and Public Affairs, Colon Cancer Concern (CCC), Ian Beaumont
added: ‘CCC warmly welcomes this decision by
NICE, which is a hard-earned victory for people with bowel cancer and
those who care for them. This
verdict is very significant for patients: it enables many people
affected by the disease to live longer and have a greater choice in
terms of the treatments that are right for them. Ann
Ray, a 46 year old patient who was diagnosed in 2001, said, ‘Being
able to have irinotecan on a clinical trial improved my state of mind
during my treatment for bowel cancer. I am delighted that following
NICE's decision, many more patients will now have the opportunity to
benefit from these treatments. My advice to patients is: find out which
treatments are best for you and then ask your GP how you can gain access
to them. You deserve the best, so make sure you get it.’ Notes
The
new NICE review addresses a broad range of issues involved in using
chemotherapy agents as 1st-line therapies, from clinical need and
current practice, to technologies, evidence, recommendations for further
research, resource impact on the NHS, through to proposals for
implementation and audit. In
particular, the Appraisal Committee considered the evidence regarding
the clinical effectiveness of 1st-line usage of these chemotherapy
agents by gathering evidence from a number of sources, including a
number of randomised controlled trials.
In summary, it was acknowledged that chemotherapy agents, such as
Campto, prolong overall survival in cohorts of patients with advanced
disease and states that all patients should be considered for
chemotherapy. Campto has
consistently demonstrated an overall survival advantage in patients with
advanced colorectal cancer in both the 1st-line setting in combination
with 5FU/FA (against the previous standard of 5FU/FA) and as a single
agent in the 2nd line setting (again versus 5FU/FA and also
supportive care). 1,2,3 More
recent data has shown that sequential use of Campto in combination with
5FU/FA can extend survival beyond 20 months.4 The
new NICE Guidance recommending the use of 5FU/FA + Campto as a standard
1st line treatment for advanced disease as well as Campto
monotherapy as a 2nd line option5 now mirrors the
way these agents are used in most of the EU and the US. Colorectal
cancer is a
malignant neoplasm in the large intestine and is the third most common
cancer in the UK after breast and lung cancer.6 Over 34,000
new cases were registered in the UK in 2001, representing 14% and 12% of
all new cancer cases in men and women, respectively.6 The
annual incidence of colorectal cancer increases with age, from 25 per
100,000 in people aged between 45 and 55, to more than 300 per 100,000
in those older than 75 years.5[A
M1]
About 30% of patients with colorectal cancer present with advanced
disease, which is defined as either metastatic or locally invasive to
the extent that surgical resection with curative intent is unlikely to
be carried out.5 Pfizer
is a research-based global pharmaceutical company that discovers,
develops, manufactures and markets leading prescription medicines for
humans and animals, and many of the world's best-known brands.
In 2003, Pfizer acquired Pharmacia, bringing together two of the
world’s fastest growing and most innovative companies to become the
largest pharmaceutical company in the world.
The combination expanded Pfizer’s global pharmaceutical
leadership, broadened its product base and bolstered its research and
development capacity. Currently,
Pfizer employs over 100,000 people in over 60 countries, has sales in
more than 150 countries, with a 2003 R&D budget of $7.1 billion.
In addition to well-established and successful chemotherapy and
hormonal products for the treatment of breast cancer, Pfizer markets and
continues to develop a leading chemotherapy agent for colorectal cancer
and boasts one of the broadest oncology pipelines in the industry, with
over 20 candidates in clinical testing.
References:
(www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/factsheets/).
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