Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of prescribing abiraterone in England using the eligibility criteria used in (a) Scotland and (b) Wales on the number of premature deaths from high-risk, non-metastatic prostate cancer.

NHS England estimates that the number of eligible patients in England is between 7,500 and 9,500 per year. This is based on the same eligibility criteria as are used in Scotland and Wales.

NHS England has not completed any specific work to estimate the potential impact of prescribing abiraterone in England using the eligibility criteria used in Scotland and Wales on the number of premature deaths from high-risk, non-metastatic prostate cancer. However, the policy was ranked as the top priority for routine commissioning at the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group Prioritisation Meeting in 2024/25, based upon the clinical benefit, which included evidence that demonstrated statistically significantly fewer deaths with abiraterone and androgen deprivation therapy versus androgen deprivation therapy alone.