Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will assess the effect of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's three-month end-of-life threshold on the number of treatments for advanced pancreatic cancer.

Since the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued its supplementary advice to its appraisal committees on the appraisal of life extending, end-of-life treatments in January 2009, NICE has not published final technology appraisal guidance on any treatments for advanced pancreatic cancer.

NICE is currently developing technology appraisal guidance on two treatments for pancreatic cancer:

- Abraxane (paclitaxel) in combination with gemcitabine for treating previously untreated metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas (final guidance is expected in January 2015); and

- Theraloc (nimotuzumab) for the first line treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer (final guidance is expected in August 2015).