Pfizer’s breast cancer drug Ibrance, or palbociclib, is too expensive to justify its use on the state-run health service, the country’s healthcare cost-effectiveness watchdog said yesterday.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said in draft guidance that although the medicine was likely to offer some improvement in overall survival, this could not be quantified from clinical trials.
“Even when allowing for these potential benefits, it was still not enough to make palbociclib cost effective at its current price,” Carole Longson, director of NICE’s centre for health technology assessment, said in a statement yesterday. Ibrance’s list price is £2,950 ($3,700) per 28 days.
Pfizer UK’s oncology head David Montgomery noted that the NICE decision was not final decision and said the US drugmaker was committed to working to try and find a solution to make the drug available.
Meanwhile, data released by charity Cancer Research UK yesterday stated that cancer rates in Britain will rise six times faster among women than men within the next two decades. 
Nationwide by 2035 there will be a 0.5% increase in men being diagnosed with cancer, compared to a 3% jump among women, Cancer Research UK said.
The increase has been linked to obesity, smoking and drinking alcohol. Womb, ovarian and postmenopausal breast cancer are among those which are linked to being overweight.
The rates of cervical and oral cancers being diagnosed is also rising among women, the latter having being linked to smoking.
Lighting up became popular among women after the habit had been taken up by men, meaning women’s risk of developing lung cancer is increasing now despite smoking rates falling overall.
Drinking alcohol is also having a negative impact on women’s cancer rates, although not to the same level as smoking and obesity, CRUK said.
“The top things we can all do to prevent and reduce the risk of cancer are quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active and attending cancer screening when invited,” said Kevin Fenton from Public Health England, a government agency.
The most common cancers in Britain are breast, prostate, lung and bowel, accounting for 53% of new cases annually.
Globally the number of new cases of cancer is expected to rise by around 70% within 20 years, according to the 2015 data from the World Health Organisation.