Hundreds more people with an aggressive blood cancer will be able to access a new treatment after NICE approved wider NHS use of glofitamab (Columvi®). The antibody therapy will be offered to about 300 people a year with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B‑cell lymphoma (DLBCL) — a non‑Hodgkin lymphoma that has returned or not responded to chemotherapy. Under the new recommendation, patients whose disease has come back or not responded after one prior treatment can receive glofitamab earlier than before, when it was reserved for those who had already had two different treatments.
Glofitamab is given by intravenous infusion every three weeks. The NHS has made the drug available immediately through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), which fast‑tracks access to promising cancer therapies while additional real‑world data are collected.
Clinical evidence has been encouraging. Trial results showed nearly six in ten people with late‑stage DLBCL achieved complete remission following a course of glofitamab combined with chemotherapy. Compared with a current standard regimen (rituximab plus GemOx, often called R‑GemOx), glofitamab plus chemotherapy significantly improved survival and delayed disease progression. In the trial, 54% of patients treated with glofitamab were alive after two years versus 34% receiving the standard treatment.
Patient story
Chris Brown, 70, a retired inland waterways captain from Northumberland, was treated with glofitamab after a stage 4 diagnosis and reports being in complete remission since February. He said: “I’ll be forever grateful to the NHS for giving me access to this treatment. The care I received at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle was exceptional, and I was genuinely stunned by how effective the treatment was. I never imagined I’d hear the words ‘complete remission’ after a stage 4 diagnosis, but in February that’s exactly what I was told. It gave me a new lease of life — I’ve been able to enjoy things I thought were lost to me, like spending the summer boating with my family in Sweden. I am so pleased to hear that the glofit treatment is going to be available for people after only one previous treatment. Congratulations to all involved in bringing this wonderful course of treatment to the NHS.”
Expert reaction
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer, said antibodies such as glofitamab that engage the immune system to target lymphoma are transforming care and increasing the number of people cured. “This is excellent news for patients with this aggressive form of blood cancer, with the NHS fast‑tracking this cutting‑edge treatment so that more people can benefit,” he said.
Dr Wendy Osborne, Consultant Haematologist at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a member of the team that treated Chris, added that making glofitamab available earlier will make a substantial difference for many patients. “I have patients alive now who would have sadly died from high‑grade lymphoma if treatments like this had not been fast‑tracked by the Cancer Drugs Fund — it is such a vital part of the NHS’s cancer care,” she said.
About the Cancer Drugs Fund
The CDF, in its current form since July 2016, allows NHS England to give rapid access to new cancer treatments approved by NICE and to manage access to promising medicines while more real‑world evidence is gathered. The fund now helps around 1,000 patients each month access new treatments faster. Since July 2016 more than 108,000 patients have benefited from the latest cancer medicines on the NHS, with over 300 approvals fast‑tracked and 50 new options added in the past 18 months.
Background and trial data
Around 5,500 people are diagnosed with DLBCL in England each year; the disease mainly affects men aged 65 and over and often presents as painless gland swellings. The STARGLO trial (24‑month follow‑up) reported that patients given glofitamab plus GemOx had about a 42% lower risk of death and roughly a 59% lower risk of disease progression over two years compared with those given rituximab plus GemOx, leaving more people alive and progression‑free at two years on the glofitamab regimen.
Further clinical trial details are available in published reports.