user: Q: Final approval of abiraterone for England and Wales expected in June. Prostate cancer charity calls on Scotland to approve drug.
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A: By. Claire Bates. PUBLISHED:. 18:01 EST, 15 May 2012. |. UPDATED:. 07:25 EST, 16 May 2012. Abiraterone is marketed as Zytiga. A drug to treat advanced prostate cancer should be given to patients in England and Wales, according to the NHS rationing body. Abiraterone, marketed as Zytiga, can extend the lives of late-stage cancer sufferers by more than three months. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) had originally rejected the drug, which costs around £3,000 a month, for not being cost effective. It provoked an angry response from both patients and cancer charities. However, today it revised its recommendations after the manufacturer Janssen offered the tablet at a lower undisclosed price. If Nice gives final approval to the drug it will have to be offered by the NHS in England and Wales from June. However, in a reverse of the usual trend the drug won't be available in Scotland. In March the Scottish Medicines Consortium turned the drug down saying the cost of abiraterone did not justify the health benefits. This decision could change as it is still in talks with Janssen. The new draft guidance has been welcomed by experts. Owen Sharp, Chief Executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: 'This announcement represents a resounding triumph for each of the thousands of men with advanced prostate cancer in England and Wales who know just how much the prospect of precious extra time with their loved ones really means. 'Although today marks a very welcome advancement, it has to be remembered that abiraterone remains out of reach to men in Scotland on the NHS. We need to see every man who needs this drug receive it on the NHS, regardless of where they live in the UK.' Human prostate cancer cells: Each year around 37,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer. Each year around 37,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 10,000 die from the disease. It is the second most common cause of cancer death in men, accounting for 13 per cent. Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of Nice, said: 'During the consultation on the draft guidance Janssen, the manufacturer of the drug, submitted further information for the committee to consider. Scots have on average 16 per cent more to spend per head on NHS drugs than the English, which has opened up a medical care divide. Many working patients in England are currently charged £7.40 per prescription even though they are free to all living in Scotland. Prescriptions are also free in Wales and Northern Ireland. Meanwhile the National Institute for Clinical Excellence has come under frequent criticism for ruling dozens of life-prolonging drugs are not cost-effective enough. Here are some of the recent rulings:. In March 2010 Nice turned down the ‘last chance’ arthritis treatment RoActemra, which is available in Scotland, despite it costing just £25 a day. In June 2010 Nice ruled that Xolair, used to reduce the number of attacks in severely asthmatic children, was too expensive for under-12s. It costs £12,000 a year and is available in Scotland. In May 2011 Nice turned down dasatinib, high-dose imatinib and nilotinib, which can give normal life expectancy for those with a rare blood cancer. The treatment costs £40,000 a year and is available in Scotland. The Government has tried to improve access to cancer drugs in England and Wales by creating a temporary Cancer Drugs Fund. So far sufferers have been prescribed nearly 10,000 treatments denied to them by the NHS through the £200m fund. 'This included a revised patient access scheme which involves providing the drug to the NHS at a discounted price, further information on which patients would benefit most and clarification on how many patients could receive the drug. 'These factors enabled the committee to revise its preliminary recommendation and now recommend the drug for use on the NHS. 'We are very pleased that Janssen's submission to our consultation means that we are able to produce draft guidance recommending abiraterone - it is an effective treatment, potentially extending life by more than three months, and it also allows patients to be treated at home as it can be taken orally.' Professor Alan Ashworth, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, said: 'We are delighted by today's decision to allow patients with advanced prostate cancer to receive abiraterone on the NHS. 'This drug was discovered at the Institute of Cancer Research and is the result of more than two decades of dedicated work by our scientists and collaborators. 'In clinical trials of men with advanced prostate cancer who have already tried chemotherapy, it has been shown to extend life by an average of four months and improve quality of life.' As Nice has not issued final guidance there is a chance the decision could be appealed against, and NHS bodies should make decisions locally on the funding of specific treatments. Nice recommended the use of abiraterone in combination with prednisone or prednisolone for the treatment of castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer that has progressed after one docetaxel-containing therapy.


Q: Vegan cook, blogger and artist Amber Locke creates beautiful designs by  photographing real fruit and vegetables. 18 months ago she went vegan and says she feels 'fantastic', and now deconstructs salads into designs. Says she loves the beauty of natural foods and how each ingredient has its own back story.
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assistant: As she cuts open deep red radishes to reveal the pink rings inside, you might think Amber Locke is creating an elaborate salad. But while she tears up lambs lettuce and arranges waxy-skinned chillies, she is actually creating an exquisite piece of art. Artist, vegan cook and blogger Ms Locke has made a series of designs in which she lays real fruit and vegetables on a sheet and photographs them from above. She says the idea for 'veg art'  blossomed from her own passion for a fruit and vegetable-based diet and living a healthy lifestyle. Eighteen months ago she decided to follow a vegan diet, which was not for ethical or health reasons but simply because it makes her feel 'fantastic'. She accidentally dropped some vegetables she was carrying home onto her flagstone doorstep, and some autumn leaves blew into them. It looked so beautiful, she decided to start creating other pieces of art, deconstructing salads and placing the produce into intricate patterns in order to create gorgeous designs. 'I love the beauty of natural foods; their different colours, shapes, textures and characters,' she told MailOnline. 'So to me, fruit and veg are not only really good for you nutritionally they also have a wonderful aesthetic appeal too. 'It’s a joy to use beautiful ingredients and my work aims to showcase their unique qualities, reflect the changing seasons of the year and also be a celebration of healthy living.' 'I love how each ingredient has its own little back story and how sometimes a seemingly random collection of things can inexplicably make a harmonious whole.' This is a rose petal strewn design, with ingredients  for a middle-eastern inspired salad. Amber said: 'I was making a salad with a slightly more unusual dressing. I used candy beetroots, cut finely so you could see the beautiful rings inside. Then I used chilli, ginger and some yellow beetroot which my mother had grown for me in her garden. As well as lettuce in the salad, I tossed through rose petals afterwards for a romantic feel' 'A textile-type design using a selection of fruit and veg I had to hand. It features watermelon radish from my parents. They pulled them out of the garden which is why you can see the roots. Then I used the last of the yellow courgettes from my greenhouse, long green peppers and pomegranates  , purple heirloom carrots (a gift from my mother’s kind friend) and some forgotten figs I found in the fridge' This design features yellow courgettes, fig leaves and radicchio flowers. 'I loved the yellows, greens and blues. My radicchio plant looks so beautiful when it goes to seed. The sun came out and cast a shadow across everything - I just love the quality of natural light.' This is a design for a root vegetable salad using heirloom carrots and autumn celeriac. Amber said wanted to use 'boring' ingredients like celeriac (pictured in white) and make them look interesting. She was inspired when she found the multi-coloured carrots at a stand in her local market. She said: 'He stocks veg by garden enthusiasts. You get an array of colours. This is where the carrots came in. I made it into two salads. Made a cashew mayonnaise and a julienne salad with a poppy seed dressing.' This was a paisley-inspired design for a super berry smoothie, featuring raspberries, strawberries, pink grapes, oranges, currents, goji berries, cashews and almonds. 'I arranged the fruits into a paisley design and put some glassware in, which I've never done before. I just thought it was really beautiful glassware' Amber said. 'It made for a pink, sweet and creamy smoothie.' This design is a wintery vegetable pattern using purple carrots, red Brussels sprouts, romanesco cauliflower, baby beets and turnips. 'It was winter and I was thinking about spring. I found some champagne rhubarb and I liked the way the leeks looked fluffy. I added, oranges, grapefruit and lime. The black twiggy  things that have pink flower were from a Japanese plant in my garden. I love the design because it looked spring like and cheered me up,' Amber said. This Caribbean style design features purple and white kale, pomegranate, papaya, oranges, strawberries, cucumber, passion fruit and cherries. Later, Amber whizzed it up into a smoothie. The design was a result of a trip to a Caribbean stall at her local market. 'I found some beautiful vivid kale, as bright as the picture,' she said. 'It was the colour of dark lavender. Then some white kale, with a green ruffle. It looked like fabric. For the design I just came back from the market with all these bright fruits and flunked down on the floor. The gorgeous smell of passion fruit filled the room' An autumn fruit salad with red apple 'spaghetti', pale pink pomegranates, turkish figs, black dessert grapes and an orange and passion fruit dressing. Amber said: 'The black grapes were from my little vine. They are very sweet and I scattered them at the end and the sunlight just caught them' Pictured are candy cane beets, purple radishes, and pink flamingo swiss chard, photographed with a soft, vintage-style filter. 'Every candied beetroot looks different and I get excited each time I cut into one. I just love that they have psychedelic pink and white candy cane stripes.' 'I have this green smoothie everyday. The design includes cucumber, broccoli, pears, lemon, spinach, apple, parsley and romaine lettuce' A design for a tropical smoothie featuring apple bananas, pineapple, papaya, mango. super sweet. 'The long spiky things were from a palm plant outside my black door. Pinepples are my favourite fruit, they're so beautiful and regal with their spikes and tortoise-shell skin.' To see more, visit Amber's blog Amba Living.