Leukaemia
(asked on 27th March 2017) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the NHS is taking to ensure that people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia whose disease relapses early have access to appropriate treatment options.
NHS England routinely commissions idelalisib for relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia following its approval by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Ibrutinib is currently funded via the Cancer Drugs Fund and it will soon move into routine commissioning.
Venetoclax, which is licensed for use after idelalisib, recently received a draft “not recommended” from NICE and remains unavailable to patients. The drug is currently being considered by NICE in keeping with the processes agreed for cancer drugs, more information is available at this link: