Abiraterone

Hello PeterB23  I can't give you the answer you are looking for the best price to include blood tests and analysis of the blood - but I can tell you the price of the medication - as per this link:

https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/abiraterone-acetate/medicinal-forms/

I hope this helps you.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi Peter,

We were told by our consultant that Abiraterone now costs approximately £60 a month instead of  2.5k+ because it went generic last October. I’m presuming he knows what he’s talking about and that it has been approved by the NHS as a first line treatment, but slow to filter through for some areas . Why are you thinking of paying for it, have you tried to get it through NHS ? 
I just googled it to double check, there’s plenty of info available . Screen shot added . 

L

I

hello

were you able to find the cost of  Abiraterone? I am desperately trying to find a supplier of Abiraterone at an affordable cost or at least less than the NHS charge of (£3000) .

My husband has T3NOMO and STAMPEDE trial ocncluded this would be beneficial to him but we cant access it

I hope your treatment is going well and thank you 

Hi jJan 

The NHS charge shouldn’t be 3k?as it’s generic now.  What treatment is your husband having at the moment? 

 there is a contact link on Prostate cancer UK. Link below . If it fails you can copy and paste it.  Or search the page; “Getting men the treatments they need” 

https://prostatecanceruk.org/about-us/projects/access-to-drugs

hopefully this helps 

Thank you BW

He had a prostatectomy in Dec 2024 but he has 2 positive surgical margins & his PSA didnt drop below 0.14. He started salvage HT in February with radiotherapy -4 weeks -planned for July. We were recommended Abiraterone following second opinion at the Marsden but it isnt available for non metastatic high risk  (T3bNOMO) in England. we have explored every avenue but keep hitting a brick wall -I am at my wits end particularly as the Stampede trial concluded this would be effective and should be the standard of care!

thank you for the link i wiil look it up

Hi ,

contact your MP and ask for help if this is what was recommended. It might  work . Sorry you are in this predicament. My OH is on Aberaterone and his PSA is currently undetectable. However , he was on 1000 mg but been reduced  to 500 mg as his liver function was a bit iffy  the oncologist said to try the lower doze and if his bloods come back the same next month he will go back into the higher doze and he will class the bloods as his new norm . 

ps We are in Scotland 

best wishes 

Liz & OH xxx

Yes it sounds like you are caught it an area where your husband isn’t ill enough for the NHS England dispensing criteria in a way, if that makes sense, I found and find you are at the mercy of certain protocols and some backward thinking sometimes. The facts are that with Abiraterone, is that it is a genetic drug now and consequently it is a cheap drug, it does have good results if used as a first line drug and used early on. There seems to be a tendency to have less choice sometimes (NHS)  and Enzalutamide seems to be the go to. The thing is Enzalutamide is a very excellent drug there’s nothing wrong with it and there’s clearly some sort of NHS contract with its supply. I think this can be where a persons individual choice can be swept aside, with a policy of “we have a drug  that does roughly the same thing and that’s it.” Mr BW is at a higher level of PC so that does seem to make it easier to to get Abiraterone as it is used as a later drug more and - which is really important, we changed our hospital/ consultant and he has a different way of thinking than our original person. Like you we went for a second opinion at the Royal Marsden and our “New”consultant was fine with following through on the advice given. I don’t know, seriously I feel your frustration with the NHS but at the same time I do appreciate how marvellous it is. It’s just so underfunded and under staffed, a bigger problem than any hardworking member of staff is responsible for. On a different note we are in the process of changing our GP surgery because of the constant balls up of BW trying to get blood tests atm.. We can never seem to get through to anyone and the connection between surgery and hospital is terrible. I mean how can a hospital lose someone’s bloods and then the GP refuse to issue another blood test because you’ve had one, We’ve got a consultant meeting this afternoon with no bloods as yet- a simple thing and BW has now spent half a day chasing up different departments and finally getting an “emergency blood test “ that may or may not come through- exhausting. 
All I can say is keep pushing for what you want, see if the contact Prostate cancer UK link can help - give advice, also recontact the Royal Marsden and ask for some help and direction as well. ( would be my plan) 

Good luck and keep us posted on how you do. 
L

Thank you L I eill keep pushing 

I hope all goes well

jan

Wish we were in Scotland  

thank you for your help & support

jan

Hello Jan 

i have been following this thread and yet again the NHS causes it's own problems.

I tried to fathom out the NICE guidelines myself but your circumstances aren't covered. Here's a link to those guidelines if you wish to have a look:

Nice Guidelines - Abiraterone.

I do hope you get sorted - keep us posted as to your progress.

Best wishes - Brian.