12 July 2016 - Thousands of men suffering from advanced prostate cancer have been thrown a lifeline after a drug that can dramatically slow the progress of the disease has finally been approved following an agonising three-year wait.

Degarelix, a testosterone lowering drug which is given as a monthly injection under the skin and costs around £1,000 a year, was first approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2009 and was introduced to the UK in 2010. But because of ongoing changes to cancer drug funding, many patients in England have not been able to gain access to it.

Now the drug-funding watchdog NICE has announced that it is recommending degarelix (available under the brand name Firmagon) for men with advanced hormone-dependent prostate cancer whose disease has spread to the spine.

Doctors and charities pushing for degarelix to be made available earlier say the decision will make a colossal difference to the lives of men suffering from a disease which kills more than 11,000 men in the UK every year. Already available in Scotland and Wales, degarelix should now be available to patients in England by the end of 2016.

View Express article