Health Minister Brian Gibbons approved the use of cetuximab in June, making Welsh patients the first in the UK to receive the drug.

But the UK’s health watchdog said on Monday it would not recommend its use as it was not cost effective.

Swansea oncologist Professor John Wagstaff said the decision was a “significant blow” to cancer patients.

Cetuximab can delay the spread of advanced cancer and shrink tumors. It is prescribed to patients when all other forms of cancer therapy have failed.

In Wales, suitable patients can currently receive 18 weeks of treatment on the NHS, costing £600 a week.

But The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published final recommendations which conclude the treatment is not “a good use of scarce NHS resources”.

Deputy chief executive Andrea Sutcliffe said: “The evidence available on cetuximab does not compare it to current standard treatment and therefore we are not able to assess whether it is any better than existing treatments or whether the NHS could justify spending money on the drug.”

Final guidance on the use of the drug is expected in November.

The Welsh Assembly Government said if the recommendations by NICE were finalised, patients in Wales currently receiving the drug would continue to do so.

Prof Wagstaff, from the South West Wales Cancer Institute in Swansea, said the decision was a “significant blow” to patients and oncologists in Wales.

He said: “Cost should not be the deciding factor in how we treat our patients, especially when a drug has proven efficacy and is widely used in the rest of Europe.”

Patient organisations Beating Bowel Cancer and Bowel Cancer UK are “united in anger” by the recommendations.

Hilary Whittaker, chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer said, “The decision by NICE not to make these drugs routinely available on the NHS to appropriate patients is a scandal and we urge NICE to reconsider its decision.”

Consultees can appeal against the recommendations, but the assembly government has said it is unlikely to do so.

Source: BBC News UK