The final guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has emphasized on suggesting Roche's Herceptin as a treatment for gastric cancer on the National Health Service in the England and Wales.

As included in the final guidance, the combination of Herceptin with cisplatin and capecitabine or 5-fluorouracil could prove beneficial for patients affected with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the stomach and gastro-oesophageal junction.

But, NICE has restricted the treatment for patients with high levels of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, having a positive immunohistochemistry score of 3 (IHC3) and those, who didn't undergo treatment for metastatic disease previously.

NICE has based their recommendation on the results of a Phase III clinical trial, which brought out that the drug if provided in combination with chemotherapy could help increasing the survival rate from 11.8 months to 16 months of patients with HER2-positive gastric tumours, in comparison to those, who were just given chemotherapy.

Earlier, the initial data presented by Roche was rejected by the NICE. The approval for the Herceptin as a treatment for gastric cancer was given after the Company submitted new analysis.

Also, the cost-effectiveness of the drug for those with positive IHC3 was between £45,000 and £50,000 and that for the unrestricted population dropped between £63,100 and £71,500.