No time to delay: Government must end bureaucratic blockage and act to make lifesaving drug abiraterone available now

The Government must act now to make lifesaving prostate cancer drug abiraterone available to men across the UK – and end a bureaucratic blockage in the NHS that’s costing hundreds of lives every year. 

That’s our message to ministers as unacceptable delays continue to deny men access to this lifesaving treatment. 

Since 2023 the drug has been widely available to men in Scotland and Wales who have high-risk prostate cancer that hasn’t advanced. But in England and Northern Ireland, it can only be given to men with very advanced prostate cancer that’s already spread. 

We’ve been pressing health bosses in England to approve the drug, which has been shown to reduce the rate of cancer progression, and can prevent hundreds of avoidable deaths every year. 

We’ve worked with NHS England, lobbied ministers and raised awareness in the media. And thanks to our campaigning, ministers are now seeking urgent advice on the issue.  

But we want to see action right now to end two years of delay and indecision that have already condemned more than 1,300 men to die from a curable disease.

Abiraterone could save hundreds of lives and reduce NHS costs

Every year as many as 8,400 men in England are diagnosed with high-risk non-metastatic or locally advanced prostate cancer – where the cancer remains in or just outside the prostate but is at high risk of spreading. 

A two-year course of abiraterone is proven to be lifesaving for men with this type of cancer. In fact, the STAMPEDE trial in 2022 showed that adding it to radiotherapy halved the number of men who got the devastating news that their cancer had come back – meaning the treatment could prevent more than 670 deaths every year in England alone. 

Two years ago, the drug’s patent expired – meaning the cost of each pack to the NHS plummeted from thousands of pounds to around £77. The NHS in Scotland and Wales moved quickly to make it available to men but NHS England failed to act, burying the matter in bureaucratic processes and delaying any decisions due to budgetary concerns. 

Today the treatment remains unavailable for men with locally advanced prostate cancer – despite NHS England’s own advisory group concluding that abiraterone is a top priority treatment. 

An independent study by The Institute of Cancer Research said the drug would not only save lives but actually reduce NHS costs because more men would be cured and no longer need life-long treatment for more advanced prostate cancers.

It’s about time we changed an unfair and life-threatening situation

For every week that passes without access to abiraterone, there are 13 men in England who could have been cured but will instead die from their prostate cancer.

This can’t continue – and it’s why we’re calling on the Government to act immediately to unblock the bureaucratic process that’s denying men access to this cheap and effective treatment.

“If you’re diagnosed with prostate cancer, it’s critically important that you can access the most effective treatments,” said Amy Rylance, our Assistant Director of Health Improvement.

“Right now, men in England find themselves in a desperately unfair and life-threatening situation – where they know there’s a treatment that could cure their cancer and they know it’s working for men in other parts of the UK, but they’re being denied that treatment for no good reason.

“In the couple of years that NHS England has failed to make a decision on abiraterone, more than 1,300 men have already been condemned to die from a cancer that could have been cured. Until the treatment is approved, this will be the fate of another 13 men every week.”

Some men have told us they’re using their life savings to pay privately for abiraterone, charged thousands of pounds to access it via private health providers. And even worse, many men can’t afford to access the treatment at all.

We’re standing with these men and urging ministers to act now to make sure this lifesaving drug is available to men across the whole of the UK.

“We’re calling on the government to urgently pull abiraterone out of the stagnant bureaucratic processes that are denying men access to it,” added Amy.

“This treatment will save hundreds of lives a year and save money for the NHS. It must be approved now.”

We're working to ensure men get the best treatments, no matter where they live.

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