Scotland has become the first part of the UK to approve a new treatment for patients with a rare type of blood cancer for use on the NHS.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) approved the treatment dasatinib - also know as Sprycel - for those suffering from chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).
Professor Jonathan Fox, the chairman of the SMC Committee, said the decision would "offer patients and clinicians a wider range of treatment options".
Figures from the end of 2013 showed at that point 466 Scots were living with CML, with 70% of patients still alive five years after being diagnosed, if the disease has been spotted early.
Zack Pemberton-Whiteley, head of campaigns and advocacy at the charity Leukaemia CARE, said: "A diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukaemia, a rare form of blood cancer, can have a huge impact on the lives of patients and families that are affected.
"Today's decision means that patients will now have access to an effective and convenient treatment with potential to improve their daily lives.
"This recommendation from the SMC is welcome news and a positive step forward for the treatment of this disease in Scotland."
Pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb is now urging the authorities in the rest of the UK to follow the SMC and approve the treatment.
Benjamin Hickey, the company's general manager for the UK and Ireland, said: "Bristol-Myers Squibb is dedicated to improving outcomes for cancer patients in the UK and we are delighted that the SMC has recognised the benefits that dasatinib will offer to patients in Scotland with CML.
"We remain committed to progressing research in haematology and are intently focused on ensuring that all patients who could benefit from our medicines are able to access them.
"We continue to work with reimbursement authorities in the rest of the UK to ensure this decision is replicated in England, Wales and Northern Ireland."
As well as approving dasatinib, the SMC accepted another cancer drug for use by the NHS in Scotland, giving the go-ahead for rametinib - also known as Mekinist - for patients with advanced melanoma.
The decision was made after hearing from skin cancer patients and their doctors through the Patient and Clinician Engagement Process (PACE).
But the SMC rejected a call for carfilzomib - also know as Kyprolis - for the treatment of multiple myeloma, a rare cancer of the white blood cells, as it was not satisfied that evidence of its impact on survival was strong enough to justify the cost.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here