Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence about a technology appraisal for tamoxifen in the chemoprevention indication.

In June 2013 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued an updated clinical guideline on familial breast cancer which includes recommendations on the use of tamoxifen and raloxifene outside their licensed indications for the prevention of cancer in specific groups of women at high and moderate risk of breast cancer.

NICE’s clinical guidelines represent best practice and we expect commissioners to take their recommendations into account when designing services and making commissioning decisions for their healthcare population.

Our assessment is that, as NICE has already provided guidance on the use of tamoxifen and raloxifene, there would be little value in NICE separately appraising these drugs for the prevention of breast cancer and we have had no discussions with NICE on this issue.