Petition for cancer treatment to be funded reaches 46,000 signatories
More than 46,000 people have signed a petition calling on the NHS to fund a life-changing cancer treatment for patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs).
The cancer charity Planets is leading the campaign for the treatment, known as selective internal radiation therapy (Sirt), to be made available through the NHS after it was approved for use more than a year ago.
A spokesman for the charity said: 'Every year approximately 6,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with NETs, a complex and often slow-growing cancer that can be difficult to detect and treat.
'Many patients develop tumours in the liver where the treatment could offer significant benefits.
'Sirt involves injecting millions of tiny radioactive beads called microspheres – smaller than the width of a human hair – into the blood supply in the liver to destroy cancer cells.'
The spokesman said that despite approval by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in May 2024, NHS England had yet to commission it meaning that patients had no timetable for when it might become available.
He added that Sirt was already available on the NHS for patients whose liver cancer developed in the organ directly or which had spread to it from the bowel but NET patients remained excluded.
Layla Stephen, a NET patient from Hampshire and director of strategy and finance for Planets, said: 'Patients are missing out simply because of red tape.
'Without NHS commissioning, only those that can afford to go private have access to Sirt and that is simply not right or fair – we need to change this.'
Ms Stephen added: 'In a statement earlier this year, NHS England said it was developing a national policy on Sirt to ensure all patients across England have the best possible treatment, yet there is still no confirmed timeline despite approval in May last year, leaving patients in limbo and suffering agonising uncertainty.'
Caroline Nokes, Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North, has written to health and social care secretary Wes Streeting about the issue.
She said: 'Constituents of mine with neuroendocrine tumours should not be caught in a bureaucratic limbo when effective treatment is both available and approved. There needs to be fairness and transparency for these patients.'
An NHS spokeswoman said previously: 'The NHS understands the concerns raised about access to selective internal radiation therapy (Sirt) for neuroendocrine tumours in the liver.
'The health service is currently reviewing a clinical proposal and developing a new national mandated NHS policy on Sirt to ensure all patients across England have the best possible treatment for their liver metastases.'
The petition can be found at: change.org/p/ensure-access-for-cancer-patients-to-life-changing-treatment-approved-by-nice.
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