Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the effects of nivolumab on one year survival rates for lung cancer.
Answered by George Freeman
Nivolumab is currently marketed in the European Union under the brand name Opdivo.
The data available when Opdivo was licensed in 2015 indicated overall survival among patients given the product was around nine months, whereas among the patients given docetaxel, another cancer medicine, it was six months.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the effects of nivolumab on one year survival rates for lung cancer.
Answered by George Freeman
Nivolumab is currently marketed in the European Union under the brand name Opdivo.
The data available when Opdivo was licensed in 2015 indicated overall survival among patients given the product was around nine months, whereas among the patients given docetaxel, another cancer medicine, it was six months.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on the availability of comparative information on and screening for prostate cancer.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation. In 2010, the UK NSC recommended against a screening programme for prostate cancer as there was no clear evidence that the benefit to screen for prostate cancer outweighed the harms. The UK NSC re-affirmed this decision in 2012 and is in the process of reviewing this policy currently.
The School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield performed an option appraisal for the UK NSC based on the latest trial evidence for screening for prostate cancer in 2013. A number of screening strategies were considered including annual screening in men aged 50 to 74 years. The overall survival benefit with all strategies was small and outweighed by the harms of over diagnosis and the adverse effects of over treatment.
Public Health England (PHE) ran a local pilot campaign for six weeks in 2014, specifically targeting prostate cancer within Black African-Caribbean men, because of their significantly increased risk of developing prostate cancer. The campaign ran in six London boroughs. In addition, PHE will be running a national campaign on “Blood in Pee” in early 2016. This is primarily aimed at bladder and kidney cancer but blood in the urine can also be a sign of prostate cancer.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to increase awareness of prostate cancer.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation. In 2010, the UK NSC recommended against a screening programme for prostate cancer as there was no clear evidence that the benefit to screen for prostate cancer outweighed the harms. The UK NSC re-affirmed this decision in 2012 and is in the process of reviewing this policy currently.
The School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield performed an option appraisal for the UK NSC based on the latest trial evidence for screening for prostate cancer in 2013. A number of screening strategies were considered including annual screening in men aged 50 to 74 years. The overall survival benefit with all strategies was small and outweighed by the harms of over diagnosis and the adverse effects of over treatment.
Public Health England (PHE) ran a local pilot campaign for six weeks in 2014, specifically targeting prostate cancer within Black African-Caribbean men, because of their significantly increased risk of developing prostate cancer. The campaign ran in six London boroughs. In addition, PHE will be running a national campaign on “Blood in Pee” in early 2016. This is primarily aimed at bladder and kidney cancer but blood in the urine can also be a sign of prostate cancer.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of an annual screening programme on early detection of prostate cancer.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation. In 2010, the UK NSC recommended against a screening programme for prostate cancer as there was no clear evidence that the benefit to screen for prostate cancer outweighed the harms. The UK NSC re-affirmed this decision in 2012 and is in the process of reviewing this policy currently.
The School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield performed an option appraisal for the UK NSC based on the latest trial evidence for screening for prostate cancer in 2013. A number of screening strategies were considered including annual screening in men aged 50 to 74 years. The overall survival benefit with all strategies was small and outweighed by the harms of over diagnosis and the adverse effects of over treatment.
Public Health England (PHE) ran a local pilot campaign for six weeks in 2014, specifically targeting prostate cancer within Black African-Caribbean men, because of their significantly increased risk of developing prostate cancer. The campaign ran in six London boroughs. In addition, PHE will be running a national campaign on “Blood in Pee” in early 2016. This is primarily aimed at bladder and kidney cancer but blood in the urine can also be a sign of prostate cancer.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to support prostate cancer awareness campaigns and screening programmes.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation. In 2010, the UK NSC recommended against a screening programme for prostate cancer as there was no clear evidence that the benefit to screen for prostate cancer outweighed the harms. The UK NSC re-affirmed this decision in 2012 and is in the process of reviewing this policy currently.
The School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield performed an option appraisal for the UK NSC based on the latest trial evidence for screening for prostate cancer in 2013. A number of screening strategies were considered including annual screening in men aged 50 to 74 years. The overall survival benefit with all strategies was small and outweighed by the harms of over diagnosis and the adverse effects of over treatment.
Public Health England (PHE) ran a local pilot campaign for six weeks in 2014, specifically targeting prostate cancer within Black African-Caribbean men, because of their significantly increased risk of developing prostate cancer. The campaign ran in six London boroughs. In addition, PHE will be running a national campaign on “Blood in Pee” in early 2016. This is primarily aimed at bladder and kidney cancer but blood in the urine can also be a sign of prostate cancer.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 to Question 8491, whether interim commissioning arrangements are being considered for nivolumab lung cancer.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England is aware that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is reviewing the use of nivolumab in lung cancer, and is likely to report shortly. NHS England has therefore advised that it intends to await the NICE recommendation rather than develop interim arrangements.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of lung cancer patients who would benefit from the immunotherapy nivolumab; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England has advised that it is not currently possible to estimate the numbers of patients in England who will be suitable for treatment, as the licence for nivolumab has been split into two distinct sub-groups (squamous and non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer) and the latter has yet to receive a marketing authorisation.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what requirements there are on members of the Committee on Safety of Medicines to declare relevant interests.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The Commission of Human Medicines superseded the Committee on Safety of Medicines from 30 October 2005.
The Chair and all members are required to make a full declaration of interests on appointment and annually in line with the Code of Practice. Both the code and declarations are published each year in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 Advisory Bodies Annual Report.
Before and at each meeting members are reminded to declare any interest they might have in the agenda items. Declarations and the type of interest are recorded in the minutes.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prevent conflicts of interest with the pharmaceutical industry among those chosen to sit on the hormone pregnancy test review panel.
Answered by George Freeman
Potential members of the Expert Group on Hormone Pregnancy Tests will be asked to declare any interests (financial or non-financial) in relevant pharmaceutical companies or in any other area that could affect their impartiality. All experts’ interests will be carefully considered to determine their suitability for membership on the Group. Members will be asked again about potential interests in the meetings to decide on the appropriate level of participation in discussions.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA, in its capacity as the arm’s length body of the Department of Health with responsibility for the regulation of medicinal products) has no record of any representations from Schering/Bayer on the safety of hormone pregnancy tests since they were withdrawn in 1978. The MHRA is has asked all companies which marketed hormonal pregnancy tests to fully disclose the research evidence and test results they hold for inclusion in the review.