The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) today recommended olaparib (Lynparza) tablets by AstraZeneca for adults with platinum-sensitive ovarian, fallopian tube or peritoneal cancer with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.
The drug, which is already approved for newly diagnosed patients on the NHS, is now recommended for routine use in the NHS for people who have had three or more courses of platinum-based chemotherapy.
NICE expects around 100 people to be eligible for this treatment through routine commissioning and has found it meeting NICE’s end-of-life criteria as well as cost-effectiveness.
Clinical trial evidence suggested that olaparib stalled growth of cancer for around 13.6 months compared with placebo.
For people who have had two courses of platinum-based chemotherapy, olaparib does not meet NICE’s end-of-life criteria. For this patient group, the drug has the potential to be cost-effective if further data confirms the overall survival benefit.
Patients who had two courses of platinum-based chemotherapy are recommended to use olaparib within the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) as NICE expects around 1,100 people to be eligible for this treatment through CDF.
NICE also published a separate draft guidance on not recommending gilteritinib, a treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia.
