Xofigo, or radium-223 dichloride, is in the final stages of approval by NICE. It could be available on the NHS by December 2016. It is a drug for prostate cancer patients where the disease has spread to the bone. The drug attacks the cancer and bone metastases with radioactive alpha particles.
Described by Professor Paul Workman of the Institute of Cancer Research, London, as an example of ‘a smarter, kinder treatment’, the drug emits similar radiation to polonium-220, which was used to assassinate Russian KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in the UK in 2006.
Men will be pleased to hear that, apparently, the new drug delivers smaller doses of radiation that don’t damage internal organs and kill the recipient.
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