UK – AstraZeneca’s Lynparza recommended by NICE for breast and prostate cancer

AstraZeneca's (AZ) Lynparza (olaparib) has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for certain breast and prostate cancer patients following a ‘milestone’ commercial agreement between the company and NHS England.

The anti-cancer medicine will now be routinely available for adults with HER2-negative, high-risk early breast cancer who have inherited faults in their BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, after surgery and chemotherapy, as well as for adults with previously treated hormone-relapsed metastatic prostate cancer who have the same BRCA mutations.

Lynparza has been available on the NHS in England and Wales for patients with advanced ovarian cancer, and inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, who have stopped responding to treatment since January 2020.

However, NICE had not recommended the treatment for breast and prostate cancer patients until now due to concerns over its cost-effectiveness…