A cancer drug considered too expensive for the Irish health service has been found to significantly extend survival rates for patients with kidney cancer.
A separate study found nivolumab helped reduce lung cancer tumours when used with the longer-established drug ipilimumab.
Nivolumab is one of a number of treatments at the centre of a pricing controversy involving the HSE and the Department of Health. The drug has been rejected on cost-effectiveness grounds for melanoma. Further assessment is ongoing for its use in kidney cancer.
A third of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma were still alive five years after treatment with the drug, according to data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago. The current five-year survival rate in Ireland is under 10 per cent.
Talks between the HSE and manufacturer Bristol- Myers Squibb on the cost of nivolumab are ongoing.
