Access to Abiraterone for non metastatic high risk

Dear Jan 

Thank you for getting in touch with Macmillan Cancer Support through our Ask A Nurse platform. I’m Linda, one of the nurses from our support line

I’m sorry to read that your husband is having difficulty accessing Abiraterone and appreciate how frustrating this must be, following the results from the trial.

I’m sure that this is already something that has been discussed with your husband’s hospital team, and I wonder what they have advised with regards to access.

There are a number of different manufacturers now producing the drug and it may be worth contacting them directly to see what they might suggest

In addition, it may help to read both our and Cancer Research UK’s guides for when treatment is not available  

What you can do if a treatment is not available | Macmillan Cancer Support

Ways to access treatment | Cancer Research UK

Prostate Cancer UK are lobbying the Government to act on this to allow for earlier access to Abiraterone for men in England. It may be worth contacting them to find out if they can offer further guidance too.

I hope you are able to find a solution soon and if we can help further, please do get back in touch

Take care, Linda (Cancer Information Nurse Specialist)

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email. 

Thank you for your. Response Linda I will pursue the pharmaceutical companies as you suggest. My husbands team are of the view that Abiraterone will cost up to 4 k a month and that the recent off licence status has increased rather than decreased the cost. The consultant is willing to write a private prescription if we do manage to find it at a more reasonable cost. I will let you know if I have any success

thanks again for your help

jan