UK – AstraZeneca/Merck’s Lynparza recommended by NICE for advanced prostate cancer

AstraZeneca (AZ) and Merck’s – known as MSD outside the US and Canada – Lynparza (olaparib) has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as part of a combination treatment for patients with an advanced form of prostate cancer, regardless of biomarker status.

The PARP inhibitor has been specifically recommended for NHS use alongside anti-androgen therapy Zytiga (abiraterone) and prednisone or prednisolone in adults with untreated hormone-relapsed metastatic prostate cancer who cannot have or do not want chemotherapy.

More than 52,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the UK and up to 20% of those with advanced cases will develop castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) within five years…