Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what alternative treatments are available for breast cancer patients requiring bisphosphonates until 2018.

Although bisphosphonates are not licensed for the treatment or prevention of secondary breast cancer, there is no legal or regulatory barrier to healthcare professionals prescribing them for this purpose if they believe that it is clinically appropriate to do so.

Treatment options for breast cancer patients are a matter for clinicians and their patients.

In its clinical guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of early and locally advanced breast cancer (CG80), published in February 2009, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that bisphosphonates should be offered to patients for the management of breast cancer treatment-induced bone loss subject to certain criteria. NICE is currently updating this guidance and the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates is one of the key areas that will be covered in the update which is expected in July 2018.