The views of patients and the general public about expensive anti-cancer drugs in the NHS: a questionnaire-based study.

Objectives: To determine the views of patients and members of the public about who should pay for expensive new cancer drugs not recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

Design: A study-specific questionnaire was used to elicit the views of patients and the general public between April and June 2010. It examined whether participants thought patients should be told about all possible cancer treatments, if the NHS should always fund non-NICE recommended drugs and attitudes towards self-funding/co-payments.

Post-operative arm morbidity and quality of life. Results of the ALMANAC randomised trial comparing sentinel node biopsy with standard axillary treatment in the management of patients with early breast cancer.

This study is the first large prospective RCT of sentinel node biopsy (SNB) compared with standard axillary treatment (level I-III axillary lymph node dissection or four node sampling), which includes comprehensive and repeated quality of life (QOL) assessments over 18 months. Patients (n = 829) completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Breast (FACT-B+4) and the Spielberger State/Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) at baseline (pre-surgery) and at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months post-surgery. There were significant differences between treatment groups favouring the SNB group throughout the 18 months assessment.