Melanoma

Debate between Pauline Latham and Chris Skidmore

Wednesday 18th January 2012 Westminster Hall

[Pauline Latham]

Yes, I would like that to happen. Looking tanned does not mean that someone is healthy. In fact, tanning increases the risk of malignant melanomas, which are rapid killers, and I would like councils to have the strength to say, “No.”

It may be expensive to prescribe the drug, but it is the first advance in treatment for a long time, and if used, may offer the opportunity of more trials to refine it, which could lead to its becoming even more effective. For young people with melanomas, it is a lifeline, even if they only survive for a relatively short time. Let us not forget the possibility that agencies, such as social services, and welfare benefits can cost the country huge sums if the remaining parent has to give up their career to look after a young family. Patients with this aggressive disease are expected to have a median overall survival time of six to nine months, but in trials, 46% of patients taking ipilimumab were still alive after a year, and in some cases, patients can live even longer.

At the stakeholder’s meeting on 8 November, we heard from a patient called Ian. He seemed well, spoke eloquently and raised many important points on access to treatment, which I urge hon. Members to read in the report that we submitted to NICE—I am happy to provide a copy. Sadly, before 21 December 2011, Ian became very unwell and was ultimately bedridden. The short time between Ian attending the meeting in November and his death a week ago demonstrates the aggressive nature of advanced melanomas.

Lack of access to the drug is still a major concern to all melanoma patients and, of course, to their families and friends. It is very distressing for them to know that there is a drug on the market that has been proven to prolong the lives of sufferers, if even for only a few months or years, yet they cannot access it through the normal channels. I acknowledge that ipilimumab is available in some parts of England through the cancer drugs fund, but it is not available in all areas, and the fund does not even exist in Wales—yet another example of inequality from the cancer drugs fund and another illustration of a postcode lottery.

[Chris Skidmore (Kingswood) (Con)]

On my hon. Friend’s point about a postcode lottery and regional variation, I think that she will be interested in figures that I recently obtained through a parliamentary question. They break down the number of registrations of newly diagnosed cases of melanoma—skin cancer—by local authority and region. I would happily give her a copy. In my region of Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire, there has been an explosion of newly diagnosed cases of skin cancer, from 254 in 1999 to 455 in 2008—an increase of 79%. The huge variation across the country shows that this is not just about the future, but that we have a problem now that we must urgently tackle.

[Pauline Latham]

Yes, I agree. I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point, because although we are talking about a big increase by 2030, he is right that melanomas are affecting more and more people, particularly the young, and they are usually a death sentence.

What will happen to those patients in areas covered by the cancer drugs fund who can access ipilimumab through the fund when funding ends in 2014? That further illustrates why it is imperative that NICE recommends ipilimumab, so that it is available across England and Wales to all patients who could benefit from it. The Minister knows that my concerns about access to treatments for other cancers—for example, Avastin as second-line treatment for bowel cancer via the cancer drugs fund—are well versed through parliamentary questions and speeches in the Chamber. I remain equally determined to ensure the availability to cancer patients of other life-prolonging drugs, such as ipilimumab.

Alongside Factor 50 and Skcin, I urge in the strongest possible terms that the Department of Health, the manufacturers and NICE work together, so that ipilimumab is available to appropriate patients across England and Wales. There are huge concerns that, without a positive decision on ipilimumab, patients will lose out on a lifeline to have those extra months or even years with their loved ones.