England to roll out world's first 7-minute 'cancer treatment' injection

Digital Desk: The state-funded national health service (NHS) in Britain will be the first in the world to provide an injection to treat cancer to hundreds of patients in England which is expected to cut treatment times by up to three quarters.

Following approval from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), NHS England announced on Tuesday that hundreds of eligible patients receiving the immunotherapy drug atezolizumab were set to have an "under the skin" injection which will free up more time for cancer team. 

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust consultant oncologist Dr Alexander Martin stated, "This approval will not only allow us to deliver convenient and faster care for our patients but will also enable our teams to treat more patients throughout the day."

According to NHS England, atezolizumab, also known as Tecentriq, is usually given to patients intravenously, straight into their veins, via a drip. This procedure may take up to an hour for some individuals for whom it may be challenging to enter a vein.

"It takes about seven minutes, compared with 30 to 60 minutes for the current method of an intravenous infusion," Marius Scholtz, Medical Director at Roche Products Limited, told Reuters.

Atezolizumab is an immunotherapy medicine that enables a patient's immune system to find and eliminate malignant cells. It is produced by Genentech, a Roche (ROG.S) firm. Patients on the NHS can currently receive treatment through transfusion for a variety of malignancies, including lung, breast, liver, and bladder.

According to NHS England, the majority of around 3,600 patients who begin atezolizumab therapy each year in England will likely switch to the time-saving injection.

The patients receiving intravenous chemotherapy combined with atezolizumab may remain on the transfusion, further, it added.