NHS To Provide World-First Blood Cancer Treatment
Patients in England with multiple myeloma, a type of incurable blood cancer, will now be the first in the world to access a game-changing new treatment on the NHS. The drug, belantamab mafodotin, also known as Blenrep, is being rolled out immediately after approval from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Described as a “Trojan horse” therapy, it targets toxic chemo directly at cancer cells while minimizing side effects, and has shown to halt disease progression for nearly three times longer than current treatments.
Around 1,500 patients in England and Wales each year could benefit from the therapy, which is given in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone. ]Experts have hailed the approval as a major step forward. NHS England’s Professor Peter Johnson called the therapy “life-changing,” while Myeloma UK said it would “transform the lives of thousands.” Developed in the UK, with early trials in London and research in Stevenage, belantamab mafodotin is now offering real hope in the fight to keep myeloma at bay.
