- A formal appeal has been lodged against the NHS spending watchdog's decision to withdraw Tecartus, a potentially life-saving cancer treatment, from health services in England and Wales.
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommended against the continued rollout of Tecartus, a pioneering CAR T-cell therapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, stating it did not perform as well in clinical practice as in trials.
- Blood Cancer UK, Lymphoma Action, and Anthony Nolan have challenged the decision, expressing serious concerns for patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma who have very limited alternative treatment options.
- Tecartus is the only CAR T-cell therapy available for mantle cell lymphoma, a blood cancer affecting around 600 people annually in the UK including Paul Madley from Cardiff who was diagnosed in 2021, and its removal is described as a “backward step for NHS care”.
- Nice stated it welcomes the appeal and confirmed that patients already receiving Tecartus will be able to complete their treatment, while two other treatments are currently being evaluated.
IN FULL
Fury over decision to axe ‘last hope’ cancer treatment from NHS
