Scots student welcomes decision to approve new brain tumour treatment

A Scots student has welcomed the decision to approve a new treatment for brain tumours in Scotland.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) approved vorasidenib, also known as Voranigo, for use by NHS Scotland on Monday.

The treatment will be used for people aged 12 or older with IDH-mutated low-grade gliomas, including astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas.

The Brain Tumour Charity said it “wholeheartedly welcomes” the decision to introduce the first targeted drug to treat the tumours.

It is also only the second new drug to be approved to treat brain tumours since temozolomide in 2006.

Vorasidenib has been shown in a clinical trial to slow tumour growth and significantly delay the need for someone to have chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

The charity says this can be hugely beneficial because it has also been shown to have much less of a negative impact on quality of life.

Brooke, a student from North Lanarkshire, who is living with a brain tumour, said: “I’ll be first in the queue to speak to my medical team now that vorasidenib is available on the NHS.

“It would be a massive relief to take the medication because I worry a lot about the tumour.

“It’s always in the back of my mind that one day it might…I find it really difficult to even say the words.

“What if it were to grow back, or what if I were to go up a grade? Even to have to go down the road of having chemotherapy or radiotherapy fills me with dread, because I’ve been warned that that’s going to happen.”

Following the SMC’s decision, health boards in Scotland are expected to consider the advice and make the medicine, or an equivalent, available locally.

The charity’s CEO, Dr Michele Afif, said: “This is a moment of real celebration for the brain tumour community in Scotland. A moment we hope to see repeated in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“Approvals for new treatments to be used within the NHS are all too rare in the brain tumour setting.

“This decision is a testament to the hard work of many stakeholders, including researchers, clinicians, industry, charities and those with lived experience.”