On Monday 13th January 2020, the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) announced the approval of Abiraterone as first-line treatment for advanced prostate cancer. This will give these men the option of Abiraterone or chemotherapy (along with standard hormone injection therapy) as a first step in treatment. The SMC said:
“Abiraterone acetate (Zytiga), used in combination with androgen deprivation (hormone) therapy, was accepted for the treatment of newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer. The medicine was considered through SMC’s Patient and Clinician Engagement (PACE) process, which is used for medicines to treat end of life and very rare conditions. Through PACE, patient groups and clinicians highlighted that metastatic prostate cancer is an incurable life limiting disease, and there is a need for more treatments, particularly for those patients who are unsuitable for chemotherapy. Abiraterone acetate, used early in the treatment pathway, can extend the amount of high quality time patients have before the cancer returns. It can also extend overall survival compared to the use of hormone therapy alone.
The full public summary document can be found by following this link – SMC document