Supply of cancer drugs in Jersey (FOI)

​ Request

A.

I'm looking to find out whether the following cancer drugs listed below that are being withdrawn by the NHS [the Cancer Drug Fund in England] are likely to be withdrawn from supply to public patients in Jersey?

B.

How many public patients in Jersey are currently receiving each of the drugs listed or have received them over the last 2 years?

C.

How do you decide whether they should be withdrawn in Jersey and when is a decision likely to be made about whether any will be?

Response

A.

As we do not have a Cancer Drug Fund or equivalent these drugs have never been routinely available to public patients in Jersey for use in accordance with the criteria specified in the Cancer Drugs Fund List so the issue of whether or not they are going to be withdrawn is not relevant. 

Please note: Any request for these drugs for these indications would be pursuant to an individual patient request from the consultant and would be considered on a case by case basis.

B.

Please note: Under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, we will exempt the supply of numbers that may identify persons in the community. This falls under article 25 of the Law; relating to article 59 of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005. This is marked by the word 'Exempt'.

Bowel cancer

Aflibercept for metastatic bowel cancers: None

Bevacizumab as a first line treatment for advanced bowel cancer: None 

Cetuximab as a second or third line treatment for metastatic bowel cancer: Exempt

Breast cancer

Lapatinib, for advanced breast cancer: None

Eribulin for advanced breast cancer: None

Everolimus for advanced breast cancer: None

Kidney

Everolimus for metastatic kidney cancers: None

Leukaemia

Bosutinib when used in the treatment of some Chronic Myeloid leukaemia, including where patients have an intolerance for other treatments: None

Dasatinib, for lymphoid blast crisis chronic myeloid leukaemia: None

Ofatumumab, for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: None

Lung cancer

Pemetrexed when used to treat advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer Lymphoma: Unable to give an answer from pharmacy records as also widely used to treat lung cancer at differing stages in line with NICE guidance. 

Bendamustine for some cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: None in rituximab refractory disease but is used for other indications

Bortezomib in treatment of relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma: Exempt

Bortezomib for relapsed Waldenström macroglobulinaemia, a rare type of non-Hodgkin

lymphoma: Exempt

Myeloma

Bortezomib for some cases of relapsed multiple myeloma: Exempt

Pancreatic cancer

Everolimus for some pancreatic cancers: None

Prostate

Cabazitaxel for advanced hormone-resistant advanced prostate cancer, when disease has progressed in spite of chemotherapy:  None

Reproductive cancers

Bevacizumab as a second-line treatment for advanced ovarian and Fallopian cancers: None

Sarcoma Pazopanib for soft-tissue sarcomas: None

Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin for some sarcomas: None

Regorafenib for gastro-intestinal stromal tumours, a rare type of sarcoma: None

C.

This question is not relevant to Jersey as these drugs have never been routinely available. As stated above, any request for these drugs for these indications would be pursuant to an individual patient request from the consultant and would be considered on a case by case basis.

Exemption:

25    Personal information

(1)    Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005.

(2)    Information is absolutely exempt information if:

(a)     it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005; and
(b)     its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.