Thousands of men with prostate cancer in England are set to gain access to a life-extending drug, abiraterone, on the NHS within weeks, marking a significant breakthrough that could provide families with precious additional years together. For the first time, patients whose prostate cancer has not yet spread will be eligible for this treatment, following a decision by NHS chiefs to widen access. Approximately 2,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the last three months are expected to benefit immediately, provided clinical assessments indicate they will respond positively to the drug. An additional 7,000 men each year are anticipated to become eligible post-diagnosis.

Abiraterone functions by depriving prostate cancer of the hormones essential for its growth, particularly testosterone, thereby helping to prevent the disease from spreading. The drug, which is now available as a lower-cost generic medicine, has previously been utilized on the NHS for advanced prostate cancer cases. Clinical trials have demonstrated its ability to significantly improve survival rates for men with earlier-stage disease. After a six-year period, 86 percent of men receiving abiraterone were still alive, in contrast to 77 percent of those undergoing standard treatments, which include hormone therapy with or without radiotherapy.

Furthermore, the treatment has been shown to nearly double the duration patients live without their cancer progressing, extending from approximately 15 months to 33 months. For specific high-risk patients, research published last year indicated that abiraterone could almost halve the risk of death, reducing it from 17 percent to nine percent after five years. New AI tools currently being trialled in NHS hospitals are assisting clinicians in identifying high-risk men who are most likely to benefit from the drug. Abiraterone will be given in combination with the steroid prednisolone.

More than 63,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer annually across the UK, with roughly 12,000 succumbing to the disease. Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting lauded the rollout as a vital lifeline, drawing on his personal experience with kidney cancer. He emphasized the importance of timely diagnosis and cutting-edge treatment, stating that abiraterone now offers a similar lifeline to men with prostate cancer. He expressed gratitude for the NHS staff who saved his life and restored his future, highlighting that this drug will enable thousands of fathers, sons, brothers, partners, and husbands to face a future they once feared they might never see.

NHS England clarified that the expanded access was made possible by securing better value for medicines, allowing savings to be reinvested into new treatments. The health service aims to save over £1 billion on clinically effective biosimilar drugs during this parliamentary term, with more than eight out of ten medicines now prescribed as lower-cost biosimilar or generic versions. Professor Peter Johnson, national clinical director for cancer at NHS England, described the expanded access as potentially 'life-changing' for thousands of men, helping to control their cancer for several years. NHS England has collaborated with campaigners, including Prostate Cancer UK, to ensure this rollout.

In the last five years, NHS England has also commissioned several other targeted prostate cancer drugs, including enzalutamide, darolutamide, relugolix, and apalutamide. Streeting reiterated the government's renewed urgency regarding cancer care, asserting that this rollout proves their commitment to improving prostate cancer outcomes. He assured patients that as the National Cancer Plan is launched soon, the NHS and the government are determined to continuously improve odds in favor of healthier, longer lives for everyone, whether for prostate cancer or other forms of the disease.

Professor Gert Attard (UCL Cancer Institute), co-lead of the trial, welcomed the development, stating that their research clearly demonstrated abiraterone's ability to save lives when offered earlier to men at high risk of their cancer spreading. He expressed delight that NHS England has acted on this evidence, making this highly effective treatment routinely available, aligning with its existing funding in Scotland and Wales.