AQW 46348/22-27

Mr Stewart Dickson
Alliance Party
East Antrim

Tabled Date: 15/05/2026
Answered On Date: 03/06/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health whether durvalumab, known as Imfinzi, is available for patients who have been diagnosed with certain types stomach cancers.

Answer:

My Department has a formal link with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) under which NICE Technology Appraisals are reviewed locally for their legal and policy applicability here, and where found to be applicable, they are endorsed for implementation within Health and Social Care (HSC) organisations. In practice, this means that treatments that have been recommended by NICE for routine use in the NHS in England are also available in Northern Ireland.

On 14 May 2026, NICE published its final draft guidance recommending the use of durvalumab (Imfinzi®), as an option for neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment with 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin and docetaxel (FLOT) chemotherapy, then alone as adjuvant treatment, for resectable gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma in adults. Final guidance is expected on 3 June 2026.

When the final guidance for this treatment is issued by NICE, my Department will consider it under the usual process for NICE Technology Appraisals as per the guidance set out in circular HSC (SQSD) 12/22 which is available at:

https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/health/doh-hsc-sqsd-12-22.pdf