New treatment for devastating cancer that DOUBLES survival rate to be rolled out on NHS
Health chiefs have said the approval marks "one of the most hopeful advances in decades for people with bladder cancer".
They said there had been real 'unmet need' for patients with the advanced form of the disease.
With bladder cancer, up to 29 per cent of people are diagnosed at stage 4, when it has already spread, and only survive for around a year after diagnosis.
The treatment is a combination of enfortumab vedotin, an antibody drug made by Astellas and Pfizer, and pembrolizumab, made by Merck.
It was approved for use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) yesterday, which means it can now be used on the NHS for people with bladder cancer.
The combination, when tested in clinical trials, gave patients and average of 33.8 months compared with 15.9 months while having chemotherapy.
Scientists have also measured the amount of time people that survived without their disease getting worse.
They found that those on the treatment had a progression-free survival time of a year compared with six months for those receiving standard treatment.
Three in ten patients had no evidence of cancer remaining after the treatment, compared with 14.5 per cent of patients receiving standard care.
Martyn Hewett, 75, from Stratford, East London, received the new treatment at Barts Health NHS Trust, after surgery to remove his tumours failed.
He said: "I feel very lucky, because if I hadn't been on this trial, I imagine I would be dead by now.
The signs and symptoms of cancer
"Immediately after the operation that failed, I asked the doctor what the prognosis was, and he said 'most people in your position live for a year', and now, three-and-a-half years later, here I am.
"I am going to have an extra few years to see my grandson grow up and maybe even be around to see him get married."
The treatment is given via an IV infusion to those whose cancer has spread around their body and cannot be surgically removed.
The first drug, enfortumab vedotin, directly targets the cancer cells and kills them, while pembrolizumab helps the immune system to recognise and fight any remaining cancer cells.
As well as experiencing better survival rates, patients also have fewer harmful side-effects.
About 10,500 people in the UK are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year. The new treatment should help about 1,250 patients annually.
Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at Nice, said: "This is a highly promising and effective new drug, with clinical trial results highlighting the tremendous difference it could make to the length and quality of people's lives."
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Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England's national clinical director for cancer, said: "This is one of the most hopeful advances in decades for people with bladder cancer who will now be offered a treatment that can almost double their chances of survival.
"Bladder cancer is often difficult to treat once it has spread, but this new therapy is the first one in years to really help stop the disease in its tracks and our rollout to NHS patients will make a huge difference to the lives of those affected and their families."
Jeannie Rigby, chief executive of charity Action Bladder Cancer UK, said: "This new drug has the potential to increase how long people have before their cancer gets worse and how long they live compared with the current, limited, treatment choices available."
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