The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) does not recommend cabazitaxel (Jevtana®) for use within NHS Scotland for the treatment of patients with hormone refractory metastatic prostate cancer who have previously been treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen.

The Drug Advice notes that the use of cabazitaxel in combination with prednisone/prednisolone was associated with a 2.4 month survival gain compared to an alternative chemotherapy regimen, in an open-label Phase III study in patients with metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer.  The SMC however concluded that the company’s justification of the treatment’s cost in relation to its health benefits was not sufficient to gain its acceptance.