Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of classifying stage 4 breast cancer as very severe in relation to access to life-saving drugs.

The Department understands the impact that cancer has on those living with it and their families, and the urgent need for new treatment options.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for developing the methods and processes it uses to evaluate whether new medicines should be recommended for routine National Health Service funding.

Whilst no such assessment has been made, in developing recommendations on whether medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources, NICE is able to apply a weighting that recognises the additional value that society places on treatments for severe conditions. The weighting that is applied is calculated for each appraisal based on information on the expected shortfall in life expectancy and quality of life of people with the condition, considering existing treatment options. NICE has concluded for several appraisals of medicines for late-stage breast cancer that a weighting should be applied based on the severity of the condition and has recommended all but one of the new medicines for the treatment of breast cancer, including advanced breast cancer, that it has evaluated since 2018. These treatments are now available for the treatment of NHS patients.

NICE’s methods that are used for determining whether an appraisal qualifies for a weighting under the severity modifier have been developed through extensive engagement with stakeholders and through public consultation.