Patients with incurable cervical cancer to be offered life-extending drug

Patients with incurable cervical cancer are to be offered a new treatment which could give them more time with their loved ones.

It is expected that over the next three years around 400 patients will benefit from Keytruda, an immunotherapy drug, also known as pembrolizumab.

Clinical trials, which are ongoing, suggest it could give patients eight more months to live on average compared with chemotherapy alone.

The drug is already offered for the treatment of several other cancers including breast, bowel, lung and skin.

It is the first new treatment in 14 years approved to treat advanced cervical cancer.

The drug has been given the green light by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) for certain patients with cervical cancer whose disease has not responded to other treatments.

The drug targets and blocks a specific protein called PD-L1 on the surface of certain immune cells, which then seek out and destroy cancerous cells, and will be offered to patients alongside standard chemotherapy.

The drug has not been approved for routine NHS use but would be given through a special funding method called the Cancer Drugs Fund, which pays for cancer treatments while data is still being collected on their clinical effectiveness.

Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at Nice, said: “Pembrolizumab shows promise as the first effective immunotherapy.

“However, to ensure the best use of limited public funding, we need additional evidence to fully analyse its clinical and cost-effectiveness before it can be considered for routine NHS use.”

John Stewart, NHS England’s director of specialised commissioning and interim commercial medicines director, said: “After nearly 15 years without a new treatment for this type of advanced cervical cancer, this first immunotherapy marks a significant step forward that will provide hundreds of people with precious time with their loved ones.”

Dame Cally Palmer, NHS England’s national director for cancer, added: “Making this life-extending drug available today is a significant moment for women with advanced cervical cancer, which disproportionately affects younger women, allowing them to spend more precious time with loved ones and enjoy a better and longer quality of life.”

Samantha Dixon, chief executive of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, said: “Today’s announcement that pembrolizumab will be available in England through the Cancer Drugs Fund is fantastic news.

“Treatments are far too limited for those living with advanced cervical cancer and this provides patients with a valuable option, hope and most importantly time.”

Cervical cancer is the 14th most common cancer among women in the UK. About 3,200 women are diagnosed with it each year, of whom more than a quarter die, with women between 30 and 34 the worst hit.

A study from January 2020 found that cervical cancer could be eradicated across the world within the next century and almost wholly eliminated by 2040.

The vast majority of cases of cervical cancer are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) – an infection that around eight in 10 people in the UK will contract but can now be vaccinated against.