§ Ann KeenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice is to be given to the National Health Service following the review by the Standing Medical Advisory Committee of the use of Taxol/cisplatin for ovarian cancer. [55347]
§ Mr. BoatengAn updated analysis of the survival benefit of using Taxol in combination as a first line treatment of advanced ovarian cancer was presented at the May 1998 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. This research indicates that Taxol given in combination with platinum increases life expectancy by around one year. In July 1998 the Standing Medical Advisory Committee considered guidelines prepared by the Joint Council for Clinical Oncology (JCCO) which take into account these latest research results. The JCCO guidelines were published in September and sent to Oncologists in the United Kingdom. A letter updating regional directors of Public Health in England on this issue was sent out by the National Health Service Executive on 18 August 1998.