Drug treatment times for some NHS cancer patients will be slashed by up to three quarters, thanks to an anti-cancer injection that takes as little as seven minutes to administer.
Following the green light from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the NHS in England will be the first health system in the world to roll out the seven-minute injection to hundreds of patients each year.
Currently, patients receive the life-extending immunotherapy atezolizumab (Tencentriq®) in hospital directly into their veins via a drug transfusion.
It usually takes around 30 minutes to administer intravenous atezolizumab, but for some patients this can be up to an hour when it can be difficult to access a vein.
But now and within weeks, hundreds of eligible patients being treated with atezolizumab are set to have their experience improved by switching to the swifter and more comfortable under the skin (or subcutaneous) injection — freeing up valuable time for NHS cancer teams.
Atezolizumab is an immunotherapy drug that empowers a patient’s own immune system to seek and destroy cancerous cells. The treatment is currently offered by transfusion to NHS patients with a range of cancers, including lung, breast, liver and bladder.
It is anticipated the majority of the approximately 3,600 patients starting treatment of atezolizumab annually in England will switch onto the time-saving injection. However, where patients are receiving intravenous chemotherapy in combination with atezolizumab, they may remain on the transfusion.
NHS National Director for Cancer Professor Peter Johnson said: “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.
“Today’s announcement is the latest in a series in the 75th year of the NHS that highlights how an innovation-driven health service is securing the most advanced cancer treatments for patients.”
