NICE Recommends Thyroid Cancer Treatments for Routine Availability

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence issued guidance recommending that three drugs — Ipsen’s Cometriq, Bayer’s Nexavar and Eisai’s Lenvima — should be offered routinely by the National Health Service for treating two types of thyroid cancer.

Cometriq (cabozantinib) is a targeted therapy that blocks certain proteins on cancer cells, ending their growth and division. The therapy is recommended as an option for treating medullary thyroid cancer that has spread through the body or cannot be operated on.

Lenvima (lenvatinib) and Nexavar (sorafenib) work by blocking certain proteins in cancer cells to shrink tumors and are recommended as options for differentiated thyroid cancers that have continued to grow or spread through the body after the patient has undergone surgery and radioactive iodine therapy.