NHS England said funding decisions on the drug were now made on a local level, but it was awaiting new advice from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
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Bisphosphonates were originally licensed for treating bone fractures in adults with advanced breast cancer, but a study published in The Lancet a year ago found the drugs could also help post-menopausal women being treated for early breast cancer.
She said: “While bisphosphonates are not routinely available to all eligible breast cancer patients, women’s lives are needlessly being put at risk”. Research has suggested they can reduce risk of cancer spreading within 10 years by 18 per cent and risk of death from the disease to 14.7 per cent.
A survey conducted by Breast Cancer Now found three quarters of cancer oncologists say they are unable to prescribe the drugs due to confusion over which NHS bodies are responsible for covering the costs.
While the drug has been backed by bodies including the UK Breast Cancer Group and NHS England’s Breast Cancer Clinical Reference Group, a lack of national commissioning policy is holding doctors back.
‘These are cheap and widely available drugs and the overwhelming evidence of their ability to save lives should have changed practice by now.
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David Warburton MP said, “50,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the United Kingdom, and sadly around 11,500 women and 80 men will lose their lives to the disease”.
More than 1,000 lives a year are thought to be lost because of the refusal to fund this treatment – at the piddling cost of 43p per patient per day.
Across both treatments, the full cost with consultant time and monitoring of side effects is 43p a day on average. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
Prof Rob Coleman, professor of medical oncology at the University of Sheffield, said: “It should be an absolute priority for every clinician and commissioner involved in the provision of breast cancer services to ensure this simple and safe treatment is made available, as a matter of urgency”.
‘In order to deliver the best quality breast cancer care to United Kingdom patients, the introduction of these drugs for all eligible women must now be our top priority’.
NHS England said decisions on the funding of the drugs were now made locally.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) yesterday published “quality standard” guidelines, stressing that Global Positioning System must use the fast-track diagnosis route.
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An NHS England spokesman said: “The report of the independent Cancer Taskforce included a specific recommendation on the use of bisphosphonates”.
