Life-prolonging drug for advanced ovarian cancer gets go-ahead in England

A coloured scanning electron micrograph of ovarian cancer cells. Ovarian is the 18th most common type of cancer globally. Photograph: Science Photo Library/Alamy View image in fullscreen A coloured scanning electron micrograph of ovarian cancer cells. Ovarian is the 18th most common type of cancer globally. Photograph: Science Photo Library/Alamy Life-prolonging drug for advanced ovarian cancer gets go-ahead in England Elahere is first new drug for chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer to be approved by NHS for 20 years Hundreds of women with hard-to-treat ovarian cancer can now be offered a new life-prolonging treatment, after NHS England approved its introduction. It is the first new drug for resistant ovarian cancer to be approved for more than 20 years. Ovarian is the 18th most common type of cancer globally, affecting more than 300,000 women a year. More than three-quarters of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, making it harder to treat. Standard treatment for ovarian cancer typically involves surgery and chemotherapy, but about 80% of patients with advanced disease relapse and most eventually develop resistance to chemotherapy. According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), patients with folate receptor-alpha-positive platinum-resistant epithelial (FR α) cancers have until now had limited options when their tumours stop responding to standard chemotherapy. Now Nice has approved the drug mirvetuximab soravtansine for patients with epithelial ovarian, peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer that has become resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy and whose tumours contain the FR α protein that the drug targets. NHS England said up to 400 women a year in England could benefit, in what it described as a major milestone for treatment. Prof Ruth Plummer, NHS England’s national clinical lead for cancer drugs, said: “This represents the most significant breakthrough in NHS treatment for these hard-to-treat ovarian cancers in over two decades – and we’re delighted it will now offer hundreds of women much-needed hope of precious extra time with their loved ones.” Mirvetuximab soravtansine, known as Elahere, is administered by a drip once every three weeks. A global clinical trial involving eight NHS hospitals found that the treatment delayed cancer progression and prolonged survival by an average of four months, compared with just receiving chemotherapy, with more manageable side-effects. In more than a third of patients (37%), tumours shrank by at least 30%, compared with 16% with chemotherapy. The drug, made by AbbVie, combines a “homing” antibody, which seeks out the FR α protein on the surface of cancer cells, with a cancer-killing molecule that destroys the cell from within. Experts said the decision was a seminal moment and could significantly improve the quality of life of affected patients. Rachel Downing, the head of policy and external affairs at Target Ovarian Cancer , said: “This is a hugely important mom