Thanks Lyn (and generally for your amazing support on this Forum)
That’s what I understand but the criteria are for men with very advanced cancer that has spread significantly (I think).
I don’t meet those criteria but am someone benefitting from the findings of the STAMPEDE trial in showing Abiraterone is beneficial given in my situation. The hope is that I can tolerate it for a few years. So unless NICE change the criteria, as I see it, I face mounting costs in keeping the cancer at bay or will have to wait until the cancer has spread to qualify (but by that stage presumably would be Castration Resistant for that to happen - a sort of Catch-22).
There has been a drop in the cost so I was hoping someone might know if that position is going to be reassessed.
This was from an UCL NHS Hospital’s Trust Press release 17th January 2022
“STAMPEDE continues to deliver practice-changing results. Currently, abiraterone is only given to patients with very advanced prostate cancer. Our latest findings are the first to show the drug can also benefit men whose cancer is at an earlier stage - improving survival and reducing the chance of progression. The next step is for NICE to consider and implement our findings, so that men can benefit from abiraterone before their cancer has spread, drastically improving their quality of life and preventing many unnecessary deaths.”