The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued final draft guidance recommending the drug rituximab (MabThera) as a treatment for certain patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Final guidance will be published later this year.
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia is a cancer of the white blood cells and is the most common form of leukaemia in the UK. The draft guidance, which has been issued following a thorough review of all available evidence, recommends rituximab, in combination with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide, for the treatment of this disease except when the condition has not previously responded to fludarabine or has relapsed within six months of treatment, or has previously been treated with rituximab. When the condition has previously been treated with rituximab, the drug, in combination with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide, is recommended as a treatment but only in the context of research.
