Britain’s state-run national health service(NHS) is likely to become the first in the world to administer an injectable that can treat hundreds of cancer patients in the country and cut treatment time by up to three-quarters. Following approval from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), NHS England announced on Tuesday that hundreds of patients who received immunotherapy will receive “under the skin” injections of atezolizumab, allowing cancer teams more time.
“This approval will not only allow us to deliver convenient and faster care for our patients but will enable our teams to treat more patients throughout the day,” said Dr. Alexander Martin, a consultant oncologist at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, while speaking to Reuters.
What is atezolizumab?
According to NHS England, atezolizumab, also known as Tecentriq, is normally given to patients intravenously, which means directly into their veins via a drip, and can take up to an hour for a few patients when it becomes difficult to access a vein.
“It takes approximately seven minutes, compared with 30 to 60 minutes for the current method of an intravenous infusion,” said Marius Scholtz, Medical Director at Roche Products Limited.
Atezolizumab, a product of Roche firm Genentech, is an immunotherapy medicine that allows patients’ immune systems to seek out and destroy malignant cells.
Currently, NHS patients suffering from cancers such as lung, breast, liver, and bladder are given treatment by transfusion.
The world-first introduction of this treatment will mean that hundreds of patients can spend less time at the hospital
NHS England noted that it expects the majority of its 3,600 cancer patients in England to begin treatment with atezolizumab and choose this time-saving injection.
It was stated, however, that patients who will be getting intravenous chemotherapy as well as atezolizumab in combination may continue to receive transfusions.
Prof Peter Johnson, NHS England’s national director for cancer, told The Guardian that the decision demonstrates how an innovative health service can get the most advanced cancer therapies for patients.
“The world-first introduction of this treatment will mean that hundreds of patients can spend less time at the hospital and will free up valuable time in NHS chemotherapy units. Maintaining the best possible quality of life for cancer patients is vital, so the introduction of faster under-the-skin injections will make an important difference,” he said.