Women with advanced ovarian cancer in England now have access to a new life-extending treatment, after the NHS approved AbbVie’s mirvetuximab soravtansine yesterday.
This marks the first new addition to NHS treatment options for this patient group in more than two decades.
New option for hard-to-treat disease
The targeted therapy, recommended by NICE, will be available for patients with epithelial ovarian, peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancers that have become resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy and express the folate receptor alpha (FRα) protein.
Mirvetuximab soravtansine works by combining an antibody that seeks out cancer cells with a cancer-killing drug, delivering treatment directly to tumours while limiting damage to healthy tissue.
The NHS estimates that up to 400 patients in England could benefit from the therapy each year.
Trial data showed the treatment improved overall survival compared with conventional chemotherapy, with patients living an average of 16.5 months versus 12.8 months. More than a third of patients also saw tumour shrinkage of at least 30%.
Improved survival and quality of life
The treatment is administered intravenously every three weeks and may offer a more tolerable side-effect profile than conventional chemotherapy.
Professor Ruth Plummer, National Clinical Lead for Cancer Drugs, NHS, described the approval as “the most significant breakthrough in NHS treatment for these hard-to-treat ovarian cancers in over two decades”.
She added: “It is part of a growing wave of more targeted cancer therapies which, by homing in on specific features of cancer cells, are helping us improve patients’ lives.”
Fast-tracked access through Cancer Drugs Fund
The NHS has made the therapy available through its Cancer Drugs Fund, which has provided early access to innovative treatments for more than 100,000 patients over the past decade.
Victoria Clare, CEO, Ovacome, an ovarian cancer charity, welcomed the decision, saying: “This is really positive news for many with ovarian cancer. For those whose cancers are platinum resistant, this offers hope and a chance of a new treatment on the NHS.”
From now, mirvetuximab soravtansine can be accessed at specialist centres across England.
