A LEADING cancer specialist says the decision not to make a life-prolonging drug available on the NHS is probably justified.

Avastin, which is used across Europe to treat patients with bowel cancer, has been deemed too expensive by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

Dr Joseph Maguire, of Clatterbridge Hospital, the main centre for cancer care covering Cheshire, told The Chronicle that the drug was not the only answer to treating the life-threatening disease.

National Press reports this week claimed the drug could prolong cancer sufferers’ lives by up to two years but Dr Maguire said that figures were often “exaggerated” to boost drug company share prices.

He said: “There is always a motivation of benefit of drug companies to play up to get interest in the drug. They are trying to maximise the valuation of it.

“Avastin is a small but significant step but the claim that it will extend your life for two years is an exaggeration.

“NICE has looked at the level of advantage and if it is justified in terms of the cost to the NHS. They have decided that the cost is too great.”

He also revealed that the drug may only be suitable to treat a very specific group of patients.

NICE, which looks at quality of life and cost effectiveness, has costed Avastin as £36,000 per patient with advanced bowel cancer, exceeding their limit of £30,000.

The drug is available to patients in France, Germany and Italy but their health services are not state-funded, as the NHS is, and are able to draw on various insurance schemes.

Dr Maguire added that chemotherapy was now playing a much more significant role in treating bowel cancer sufferers than ever before.

He added that an alternative drug to Avastin, Cetuximab, was also available and had already been recommended by NICE.

It is used to identify patients that won’t react to specific drugs and treatment.

Dr Maguire belongs to the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, in Bebington, Wirral, and runs clinics in Chester, Deeside and the Cardiothoracic Centre in Liverpool.