Review of NICE Technology Appraisal Guidance No118 Colorectal cancer (metastatic) - bevacizumab & cetuximab

As you may be aware the planned date for review of the above guidance was May, 2009.

This is the date when the Institute decides whether sufficient new evidence has emerged for the Appraisal Committee to be asked to undertake an update of the existing guidance.

The Institute has carried out a search for information relevant to this appraisal, and believes that it is appropriate to take forward as follows;

• A part review of the guidance is carried out covering bevacizumab, cetuximab and (additionally) panitumumab for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer following the failure of first line chemotherapies (to include a part review of TA118 and a review of TA150).
• The decision to update the remaining guidance on bevacizumab plus irinotecan for first line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer is deferred and considered for review with other first line treatment appraisals of metastatic colorectal cancer.

In order to be completely confident that this is appropriate, we are asking consultees and commentators with an interest in this topic, to inform us of any evidence which would suggest that an earlier review would be beneficial. We would particularly like to be made aware of timelines around on-going research, etc. which might affect the scheduling of this review should we go ahead with the proposal following this consultation. Please see appendix A for a full list of the organisations we have contacted.

Please note all comments received will be published on the Institute’s website when a decision has been made.