What has NICE said?
Rituximab taken with glucocorticoids is recommended as a possible treatment for people with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (that is, severely active granulomatosis with polyangiitis [also known as Wegener's granulomatosis] and microscopic polyangiitis) if:
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more treatment with cyclophosphamide would exceed the maximum amount of cyclophosphamide they can have or
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cyclophosphamide is not suitable for them or they cannot take it or
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they want to have children and treatment with cyclophosphamide may affect their fertility or
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the disease has stayed active or got worse after a course of cyclophosphamide lasting 3–6 months or
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the person has had cancer affecting the lining of the bladder and other parts of the urinary system.
What does this mean for me?
If you have anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis as described above, and your doctor thinks that rituximab is the right treatment, you should be able to have the treatment on the NHS.
Rituximab should be available on the NHS within 3 months of the guidance being issued. If you are not eligible for treatment as described above but you are already being treated with rituximab within the NHS, you should be able to continue taking it until you and your doctor decide it is the right time to stop.