Thousands of men in England living with advanced prostate cancer are poised to benefit from a new life-extending drug, talazoparib, which has been approved for NHS use.
The once-daily pill, with its brand name Talzenna and produced by Pfizer, offers a crucial at-home treatment option after receiving a recommendation from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
This medication is prescribed for individuals whose cancer has spread and is taken in combination with enzalutamide, another tablet that works by blocking the impact of testosterone on prostate cancer cells.
Crucially, it is suitable for patients who are unable to receive chemotherapy or cannot tolerate other standard treatments. The decision has been widely welcomed, described as a “real lifeline” for men affected by the disease.
Talazoparib works by blocking certain enzymes from repairing damaged DNA in cancer cells, causing them to eventually die.
Trials have shown that people taking the drug with enzalutamide lived almost nine months longer, and also had more time before their cancer got worse.
Nice estimates that about 2,400 people in England are eligible for the drug, which is available on the NHS from today.
Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at Nice, said: “We are continuing to focus on what matters most to people by recommending this effective treatment that can make a huge difference to the lives of people with advanced prostate cancer.
“Talazoparib plus enzalutamide can be taken at home, so provides a convenient and flexible treatment option for people who can’t have chemotherapy and are not able to take other medicines so have limited treatment options.”
The recommendation from Nice comes days after new analysis found that prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK.
Prostate Cancer UK found that 64,425 men were diagnosed with the disease in 2022, compared with 61,640 people with breast cancer, which had previously been the most common cancer.
The figures are a 24 per cent rise on the previous year when 51,823 men were diagnosed with the disease.
Prostate cancer officially became the most common cancer in England a year ago, but new figures from Scotland, with data from Wales and Northern Ireland, enabled the UK-wide figure.
Amy Rylance, assistant director of health improvement at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “When hormone therapy stops working for a man with advanced prostate cancer, who is unable to have chemotherapy, it can be hugely distressing.
“Their treatment options become more limited, and they face a lot of uncertainty.
“That’s why the fact this treatment is now approved is so exciting.
“For these men, having talazoparib approved is a real lifeline, and research shows that men who receive talazoparib alongside enzalutamide get almost nine months more of life with their loved ones than men just on enzalutamide.
“We know that for men with some genetic variations, like BRCA and HRR, the treatment can be even more effective.”
