Guidance on the use of temozolomide for the treatment of recurrent malignant glioma (brain cancer)

Currently, chemotherapy is used for about 500 to 600 people with recurrent malignant glioma per year. The number of patients for whom first line chemotherapy fails and whose condition will allow sufficient benefit from temozolomide as a second‑line therapy is likely to be only a small proportion of these, perhaps 25%. It is therefore assumed that 150 patients per year would be eligible for temozolomide treatment under this guidance. If they were to receive an average of 4 cycles, the incremental cost would be about £6,400 per person. This would amount to about £1 million in aggregate, per year, for the NHS.

Other impacts on the NHS would be small. If total survival were to increase by the same amount as the progression‑free period, then a small increase in total NHS costs could be expected.