Critics have strongly condemned a decision to cancel a bowel cancer drug for use on the NHS. NICE, the health watchdog says that the cost of avastin, which was about £21,000 per patient, does not justify the benefits.

The patients of advanced bowel cancer are allowed to live for a few more weeks or months with the help of this drug. The drug avastin, also called bevacizumab, works by reducing the blood supply to a tumor, making it shrink or stop growing.

The drug is already being used across Europe and the US but the UK patients have to buy the drug privately or make an appeal to their local health authority for funding. An estimated 6,500 patients per year in the UK could benefit from avastin.

Further consultation and appeal will be made on the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to stop the use of the drug on the NHS.

The body had recommended several other treatments for various stages of the cancer, said Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE.