Thousands of women with advanced ovarian cancer left 'frustrated' after Nice denies them drug Frances Reid, from the charity, Target Ovarian Cancer, said: "We know women will be distressed by this decision. We are very frustrated, because with the changes to commissioning of chemotherapy, it's not even certain yet whether women in England will be able to access the drug for recurrent ovarian cancer through the Cancer Drugs Fund. We know there are women out there right now, who need access to this drug, but don't have the luxury of waiting several months to see if this is possible. We will make our views known to Nice on their decision, through the appropriate processes. Around 2,100 women in Britain would have been eligible for treatment had Avastin been approved. Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women with 7,011 new cases of the disease diagnosed in 2010. Sir Andrew Dillon, Chief Executive of Nice, said: "With any treatment that our independent advisory committees appraise, we must develop recommendations based on the clinical and cost effectiveness evidence provided, weighing up how well a treatment works compared with currently available treatments and taking into consideration any possible side-effects. The NHS has finite resources so it is imperative that treatments are only recommended if they represent good value for money for the NHS for the amount of benefit they offer patients. In this instance, the Appraisal Committee concluded that, although bevacizumab may help to delay the spread of a patient's cancer for a limited time, the evidence did not show that bevacizumab justifies its very high cost and could not be recommended. Sir Andrew Dillon added: "We understand there are limited treatment options available to women with recurrent advanced ovarian cancer and it is always disappointing when we are not able to recommend a treatment. However, it is important to remember that there are other treatments already available in the NHS for treating this condition. The draft guidance is now open for consultation.