NICE releases preliminary guidance to recommend Inlyta® (axitinib) for the treatment of advanced kidney cancer

 
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) released preliminary guidance today in the form of an Appraisal Consultation Document (ACD), which recommends the use of Inlyta® (axitinib) for the second line treatment of people with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after first line treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor or a cytokine either fails or is not tolerated. This recommendation comes after an earlier negative decision by NICE, which was appealed by the manufacturer of Inlyta®, Pfizer, the Royal College of Physicians, Kidney Cancer UK and Kidney Cancer UK.
If this preliminary recommendation is upheld in the Final Appraisal Document (FAD), which is to be released in the summer, Inlyta® will become the first second-line treatment for RCC available on the NHS, giving patients with advanced disease a further treatment option and renewed hope at a very difficult time in the course of their cancer journey.
James Whale MBE, broadcaster and chairman of the Kidney Cancer UK said ‘This decision is very much welcomed by kidney cancer patients in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; it is vitally important that all patients across the UK have routine access to innovative treatments, and this decision is one step closer to enabling patients to have the treatment options recommended by their oncologist at all stages of the disease. This decision also addresses the current inequalities of access to second line therapy within the UK subsequent to the SMC’s decision to approve axitinib for reimbursement by NHS Scotland last November.’
Kidney Cancer UK will continue to work with NICE and to represent the views of kidney cancer patients to ensure this preliminary decision is recommended in the final guidance for Inlyta®.