Oncology agents and immunosuppressants dispensed in Community from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2022

Thank you for your request dated 29 April 2022 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) for information relating to cancer medicines. Thank you for your clarification on 18 May 2022 that you were seeking data from April 2020 to April 2022. 

You requested: 

[T]he number of each cancer drug dispensed in the community including endocrine therapy …[for] April 2020 – April 2022 

I am pleased to provide the data for your request attached with this response. 

Please note, we have provided dispensing totals for all chemicals under Community Schedule therapeutic group one (TG1) 'Oncology Agents and Immunosuppressants(external link)'. However, not all of the chemicals/agents listed in therapeutic group two (TG2) ‘Immunosuppressants(external link)’ are funded for cancer treatment. This is because our system does not specify which chemicals/agents are used for cancer treatment and which are not, each chemical/agent needs to be manually identified. Hospital claims have not been included in the data provided. 

Additionally, goserelin and leuprorelin have been included in the data provided as it is understood that they may also be used to treat some cancers. 

We trust that this information answers your queries. We are making our information more freely available, so we now publish selected OIA responses (excluding personal details) on our website. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about this.