BREAST cancer patients have suffered another blow at the hands of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

NICE has today published final guidance to the NHS not recommending the use of bevacizumab, or Avastin, for use as a first-line treatment for people with metastatic breast cancer.

It claims the drug, which needs to be used in combination with a taxane, a type of chemotherapy drug, and could delay the spread of cancer by around five months, was not ‘cost effective’.

Less than five people in Oxfordshire have been given bevacizumab in the past year.

Sir Andrew Dillon, NICE Chief Executive, said: “The evidence for the effectiveness of bevacizumab in prolonging survival was not robust and overall did not show enough of a demonstrable benefit for it to be considered a cost-effective use of NHS resources.” An independent Appraisal Committee, which developed this guidance on behalf of NICE, considered evidence from the manufacturer, clinical experts and patient and PCT representatives.

It claimed clinical trial data suggested that, for breast cancer patients whose tumours have spread elsewhere in the body, bevacizumab could slow the growth and spread of the cancer by around five months.

But it could not say whether the drug could extend a patient’s life, or how long for. There was also no evidence to show if the drug could offer a better quality of life than existing treatments.