A report published by The Lancet Oncology details the decision by the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to uphold its original decision not to approve the drug erlotinib to treat locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer in patients who have stable disease following platinum-based chemotherapy.
The Special Report is by Fiona Rinaldi, Technical Advisor at NICE, Dr Elisabeth George, Associate Director at NICE and Professor Peter Clark, Chair of the Independent Appraisal Committee.
Work conducted by NICE's independent evidence review group (ERG) concluded, among other things:
The authors conclude: "The Committee noted that even if the end-of-life criteria were taken into account, the most plausible incremental cost-effectiveness ratios [per QALY] were higher than those normally considered to be associated with cost-effective treatments.
Consequently, the Committee did not recommend erlotinib maintenance treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer who have stable disease following platinum-based chemotherapy."
The authors also note that Roche attempted to appeal against this guidance, but the appeal was dismissed on May 16, 2011.
Article: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(11)70177-2/abstract
Source: Lancet Oncology
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