10 April 2017 - Medicines for breast cancer, multiple sclerosis and leukaemia among five new treatments accepted for use in NHSScotland.

The SMC, which reviews newly licensed medicines, has today published advice accepting five new medicines for routine use by NHS Scotland.

Trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) was accepted following consideration through SMC’s Patient and Clinician Engagement (PACE) process, for medicines used at the end of life and for very rare conditions. Trastuzumab emtansine is used to treat an aggressive, advanced type of breast cancer known as HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer. In the PACE meeting, patient groups and clinicians highlighted that treatment options are limited at this stage of breast cancer. This medicine can offer patients a significant increase in overall survival and quality of life, allowing them to spend more time with their family and in some cases return to work.

Also accepted through the PACE process was ibrutinib (Imbruvica). Ibrutinib can be used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) in patients with disease that has relapsed after previous therapy. Through PACE, patient groups and clinicians highlighted that CLL, a rare, debilitating cancer of the blood, has a significant impact on patients and their families. Ibrutinib is an oral preparation that is better tolerated than currently available alternatives. It has been shown to delay progression of the disease with potential improvement in quality of life.

Read SMC press release