NICE rejects Iressa for NSCLC patients who have failed previous treatments but recommends Tarceva - AstraZeneca/Roche

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is withdrawing its endorsement of Iressa (gefitinib), from AstraZeneca, for the treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer patients who have failed previous treatments. NICE is updating its recommendations based on advice from clinicians, who told an independent advisory committee that after patients receive EGFR-TK inhibitors, they build up a sensitivity to this class. Therefore they are unlikely to benefit from the drugs if their cancers return. NICE has recommended the use of Tarceva (erlotinib) from Roche as an option for treating disease that has progressed in people who have had non-targeted chemotherapy, but only when confirmation of their tumour status is delayed. NICE has also stipulated that the person�s disease responds to the first two cycles of treatment with Tarceva and that Roche provides the drug with the discount agreed in the patient access scheme.