NHS patients to receive drug that destroys cancer from inside
A so-called 'Trojan Horse' drug that destroys blood cancer from within is set to be rolled out to thousands of NHS patients.
The health service will be the first in the world to make the drug available to patients with multiple myeloma – an incurable cancer of the bone marrow.
The drug, called belantamab mafadotin, was developed in the UK and has been dubbed a 'Trojan Horse' therapy because it tricks cancer cells into absorbing it before killing them from within.
While the cancer is incurable, treatment is designed to extend people's lives by as much as possible while minimising the impact of side effects and on quality of life.
In trials, cancer progression was delayed by three years on average in those taking the drug, which was three times longer than the most common treatment.
Around 1,500 patients a year in England will benefit after the treatment was approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on Thursday.
The drug will be offered to patients whose cancer has progressed or not responded to the first choice of treatment using another drug, lenalidomide.
Patients who are prescribed the drug will receive it via an infusion once every three weeks in combination with two other cancer treatments.
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