A hormone reduction pill which can be taken at home could benefit more than 40,000 men in England with advanced prostate cancer.
Experts hailed the drug as a potential “game-changer” in how patients are treated.
Relugolix, also known as Orgovyx and made by Accord, is an androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), a medicine that reduces testosterone levels to treat prostate cancer.
ADTs are usually administered by injection, but relugolix is the first oral treatment of its kind to be approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
The pill works by blocking the production of testosterone – which prostate cancer cells use to grow – in the testes.
Nice has recommended the treatment for patients with advanced, hormone-sensitive, prostate cancer, which means the disease has progressed after radical treatment or is at a high risk of progression.
Relugolix is expected to be available to patients on the NHS within three months of Nice’s final draft guidance being published.
Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at Nice, said: “We are continuing to focus on what matters most to people by recommending this innovative and effective treatment that can make a positive difference to people with advanced prostate cancer.
“Relugolix provides a convenient and flexible treatment option compared with therapies that need to be injected, helping people to avoid travel and time off work and the evidence shows it can improve people’s quality of life.”
Cancer Research UK estimates there are about 55,100 new prostate cancer cases each year in the UK, the equivalent to 150 per day.
According to Nice, evidence from clinical trials on relugolix suggest it is better at reducing testosterone to levels that stop cancer growth than the ADT injection, leuprolide.
ADTs are associated with an increased risk of heart attacks and heart failure, but this risk was lower in relugolix compared to leuprolide.
Amy Rylance, assistant director of health improvement at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “It’s fantastic news that relugolix has been approved for potentially tens of thousands of men with advanced prostate cancer.
“This drug can not only help keep the cancer at bay, but could be a game-changer in terms of men’s experience of treatment.
“This is because it can be taken as a tablet at home, avoiding multiple trips to the clinic.
“Not only is this much more convenient and comfortable for a lot of men – but it is especially important for those who, for whatever reason, aren’t able to have injections.
“Even better, trials suggest it has a lower risk of heart problems sometimes associated with these sorts of treatments.
“All this makes it a major advance on what came before, and we’re pleased to see so many men getting access to kinder, effective treatments like this one.”
