NICE recommends use of Lenvima in liver cancer.- Eisai and Merck Inc.

The National Institute for Health and Care excellence (NICE) has recommended Lenvima (lenvatinib), from Eisai and Merck Inc., as a potentially life-extending treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in adults with Child-Pugh grade A liver impairment and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1. Lenvima will be offered to patients with advanced liver cancer whose disease cannot be surgically removed but whose liver is well-functioning. The drug functions by slowing the growth and spread of tumour cells by shutting off their blood supply. The new appraisal was based on data showing that patients experienced a median overall survival of 13.6 months versus 12.3 months with best alternative treatment Nexavar. In addition, median PFS with Lenvima was 7.3 months versus 3.6 months, respectively. The drug is expected to benefit around 900 patients annually.

Lenvima was originally approved in 2015 in the US for locally recurrent/metastatic, progressive, radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. The following year it was approved in combination with everolimus for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, and most recently approved in August 2018 for first-line treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).