The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on Friday (December 3) issued preliminary draft guidance recommending the use of Swiss Drug major Roche’s (ROG; VX) MabThera (rituximab) as a first-line maintenance treatment for certain patients with advanced follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This draft recommendation, which was issued for consultation, is based on evidence suggesting the drug could significantly help to delay the growth and spread of the cancer.
Peter Littlejohns, Clinical and Public Health Director at the NICE, said: "A maintenance treatment is used to stop a cancer from returning following initial chemotherapy. For follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, no such maintenance treatment has so far been available and therefore rituximab could be a valuable treatment option for patients with this type of cancer. The evidence highlighted that it could keep a patient's cancer in remission after they have had chemotherapy and therefore delay the need for further chemotherapy. This should mean that patients have fewer chemotherapy-associated side effects long-term and so improve their quality of life.”
But some uncertainties remain
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