Staffordshire cancer victims face having treatment

9 years 3 months ago #47734 by AnneH
Staffordshire cancer victims face having treatments stopped over drug shortage
By The Sentinel | Posted: December 12, 2014

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DOZENS of cancer victims are having their treatment stopped – because of a drug shortage.

The BCG medication – which should be given to bladder cancer patients over three years – has already been stopped for people who have received the treatment for at least 12 months.


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But the drug is now set to be withdrawn from all patients by early next year.

The move means some patients could face having their bladders removed as a last resort if more stocks are not found.

The national crisis has been blamed on global companies which have pulled out of selling BCG over the past two years.

It leaves only one pharmaceutical manufacturer – Hertfordshire-based MSD – having to supply 99 per cent of UK demand and it can no longer keep pace.

The medication reduces the risk of the cancer returning or becoming invasive.

Marketing manager Pete Massera has already had his treatment stopped at the Royal Stoke University Hospital after falling victim to the drug shortage.

The 48-year-old, of Leek, right, was diagnosed with bladder cancer and has had a tumour removed.

He said: “I have been told my next scheduled treatment will not be going ahead due to a shortage of supplies. We need to get answers about why this has occurred? Who is accountable for this occurring, and what’s being done about it?

“BCG is not pleasant but in comparison to losing your bladder and sexual function, which you do if you have invasive bladder cancer, it’s a small price to pay.”

The drug is registered for use within the NHS by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

But MSD says supplies may continue to be limited throughout the rest of this month and next year.

A spokesman said: “We have gone from supplying approximately 13 per cent of the market in 2012 to currently 99 per cent in the UK.

“We are doing everything we can to meet this demand and have increased production by 100 per cent over the last two years.”

Bladder cancer has a high survival rate – with three-quarters of patients expected to be alive five years after diagnosis.

Royal Stoke consultant urologist Dr Lyndon Gommersall said: “Our patients are obviously very anxious about not being able to have this treatment.

“Thankfully we are still able to treat patients in the first year of their treatment.

“What is unclear is whether we will be able to continue that over the Christmas period and into the New Year

for any new patients

who require this treatment.”



Read more: www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Staffordshire-cancer-victims-face-having/story-25701734-detail/story.html#ixzz3LiW7iuUA
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