Oncologists attack decision to limit NHS use of pioneering treatment

Leading cancer specialists said yesterday that a decision to limit the use of two innovative drugs for colon cancer would condemn NHS patients to "inferior treatment and reduced life expectancy".

The group of 28 oncologists launched a high-profile attack on the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice), claiming that its guidance was a "major retrograde step".

But Nice, which vets new treatments for the NHS, said the ruling would give patients better access to the two chemotherapy drugs, rather than deny them access. Anne-Toni Rodgers, communications director for Nice, said: "The guidance will increase NHS spending on these drugs by around £41m each year."

The doctors, who represent nearly half of Britain's colon cancer specialists, called for an urgent review of the "exceedingly disappointing judgment" announced by Nice in March. In a letter, they said: "Nice's decision will once again leave Britain lagging behind other countries of the developed world in its treatment."

Colon cancer is diagnosed in 35,000 people a year in Britain. But less than 41 per cent of patients here survive five years, compared with 47 per cent in mainland Europe and 63 per cent in America. "The wider use of modern treatments in Europe and America contributes to those better outcomes," said the doctors, led by Dr David Cunningham, a consultant at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. They added that Nice had "misinterpreted" evidence on Irinot-ecan and Oxaliplatin and failed to include a cancer specialist on the appraisal committee.

Their protest was backed by Colon Cancer Research, which will shortly publish the results of a nationwide survey showing a "significant lack of resources and availability of cancer treatment".

Nice said the two drugs should not be used as first-line treatment because of the current uncertainty surrounding their success. But Oxaliplatin could be used in patients whose cancer had spread to the liver, Irinotecan could be used if other medication failed, and a third drug called Raltitrexed could be used in clinical trials. Ms Rodgers added: "Rather than deny treatment, the Nice guidance will increase access to Oxaliplatin and Irinotecan for those patients who will benefit from their use. Patients with liver tumours may be treated with Oxaliplatin first-line to shrink the tumours enough for surgery; and Irinotecan may be added to established chemotherapy as the disease progresses."

* The number of people waiting for hospital admissions in England rose by 22,700 in the year to April, government statistics revealed yesterday. The number of patients waiting more than 12 months for treatment fell to its lowest since September 1996 but the total number of people waiting for hospital admission rose by 1.1 per cent on the previous month, to 1,046 million.