NHS England approves new ovarian cancer drug Elahere for advanced cases

NHS England has approved the use of mirvetuximab soravtansine, known as Elahere, for patients with a hard-to-treat form of ovarian cancer, marking the first new drug for resistant ovarian cancer approved in over 20 years. The drug targets folate receptor-alpha-positive platinum-resistant epithelial cancers, which have limited treatment options when standard chemotherapy stops working. Up to 400 women a year in England could benefit from the treatment, according to NHS England. A global clinical trial involving eight NHS hospitals found that the drug delayed cancer progression and prolonged survival by an average of four months compared with chemotherapy alone, with more manageable side effects. In more than a third of patients (37%), tumors shrank by at least 30%, compared with 16% with chemotherapy. The drug, made by AbbVie, combines a homing antibody that seeks out the FRα protein on cancer cells with a cancer-killing molecule. Experts and charities described the decision as a landmark moment offering hope for improved quality of life.

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Sources: The Guardian