SCOTLAND has become the first part of the UK to make a new drug available to patients with a rare form of cancer.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium used procedures put in place to improve treatment for those patients nearing the end of their life and those with rare conditions to approve the drug bosutinib for sufferers of chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML).
Sine 600 people a year in the UK are diagnosed with the condition each year, and have just a 40 per cent chance of surviving the next five years.
In 2012, 60 people in Scotland were diagnosed with the disease, the highest number since 2007.
Patients in Wales and Northern Ireland have to prove "exceptional circumstances" to be considered for bosutinib, which is also known as Bosulif.
In England, some patients have been able to get the treatment thanks to the Cancer Drugs Fund, but manufacturer Pfizer fears changes to this mean in the future it may no longer be available.
The drugs company is now calling on the UK Government to find a "fair and sustainable solution" to access to such treatments.
Ben Osborn, Head of Pfizer Oncology UK, said: "We believe that the recent changes to the Scottish Medicines Consortium are a step in the right direction in improving access to oncology treatments, such as bosutinib.
"However, elsewhere in the UK cancer patients are still being denied access to innovative medicines."
David Ryner, chair/trustee of the CML Support Group, said it was "fantastic" news for patients.
However, a life-prolonging prostate cancer drug used to treat the Lockerbie bomber will not be prescribed to patients in Scotland who have yet to undergo chemotherapy.
Campaigners said it was unfair to force men to "endure and survive chemotherapy" before being allowed to access to abiraterone after the SMC said was too expensive for routine use on the NHS.
The SMC also said its expert panel "felt there was insufficient evidence about the overall benefits of using abiraterone at this stage" in the treatment process.
The £3,000-a-month drug, known by the brand name Zytiga, was rejected outright in March 2012 but approved on appeal in August that year for restricted use among men who had already completed one regimen of chemotherapy.
The latest application from manufacturer Janssen aimed to make it more widely available.
Abiraterone has been shown to delay or avoid the need for chemotherapy and its devastating side effects.
Owen Sharp, chief executive of Prostate Cancer UK, said: "The SMC's decision to deny abiraterone on the NHS in Scotland is an intolerable blow to hundreds of men with incurable prostate cancer.
"No man should be told they must endure and survive chemotherapy before they are allowed to routinely access abiraterone."
In 2013, abiraterone was used before chemotherapy by 3,000 men in south of the Border through England's Cancer Drugs Fund, and was the second most requested treatment.
However, Nice - the drugs watchdog for England and Wales - has also rejected abiraterone for routine use on the NHS pre-chemotherapy.
Patients in Scotland can continue to apply for the drug prior to chemotherapy on a case-by-case basis through Scotland's Individual Patient Treatment Requests system, after Janssen offered it at a discount on the IPTR scheme.
Professor Jonathan Fox, chairman of the SMC, said: "We realise this decision will disappoint patients and clinicians alike, but SMC has to consider clinical and cost effectiveness in making its decisions.
"In doing this, we have to take account of the needs of all patients in Scotland, not just those who would benefit from the medicine under consideration."
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