Dr Roques: Funding is an issue

Herceptin is a beneficial drug in the treatment of breast cancer but needs to be kept in the context of all the other treatments, Dr Tom Roques claims.

The consultant clinical oncologist agreed with concerns raised by Dr Peter Kirkbride, chief spokesman on radiotherapy for the NHS, who questioned whether the £100 million spent on Herceptin in 2006 was cost-effective.

Dr Roques told the Today programme that he "absolutely" agreed with Dr Kirkbride's suggestion that the same amount of money spent on radiotherapy could probably benefit around 30,000 patients, rather than the 500 patients said to have benefited from Herceptin.

He said there are two main points to consider in the debate.

"First of all, can we improve the cost-effectiveness of new treatments like Herceptin, and secondly, how do you put that into context with all the other treatments for cancer and for other illnesses and work out where the NHS should be putting extra money?" Dr Roques said.

"On a day-to-day basis as an oncologist I'm naturally pleased that Herceptin has been recommended because I can give patients what I feel is better care.

"But one must put that against the fact that in our department, like departments up and down the country, we're being asked to cut budgets and therefore not to fund other treatments which may also be of great value."

He added that he would like to see "a much more open debate about what services have to be cut in order to fund new treatments like Herceptin".

The NHS in general and drugs companies, Dr Roques said, also need to find ways to reduce the cost of new drugs and health economists should develop ways of finding the best ways of distributing limited funds.