Click the links to view or print
the newsletters
Bendamustine is available on the NHS for the
treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia – under some
circumstances.
CLLSA Chairman Jane Barnard took part in the
NICE appraisal of Bendamustine for CLL. In February 20111 NICE
announced that bendamustine is now available on the NHS - here
are the limitations:
-
you have chronic lymphocytic leukaemia of Binet stage B or C
that has not been treated before and
-
you cannot have chemotherapy with a drug called fludarabine.
See the NICE (National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence http://guidance.nice.org.uk/TA216
for the full text.
So what do you do if your haematology team feels
that you need Bendamustine but you are not eligible by the
rules? Your clinician may choose to start by applying to the Individual
Funding Requests/Exceptional Treatments; if this fails, there is
now the Cancer Drugs Fund that the consultant can appeal to.
There is no guarantee that funding would be made available, but
in some areas there are now 2 possible routes to get a drug.
NHS Scotland followed the NICE
Guidance, and NHS Wales routinely complies with NICE Guidance as
does Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland.
