New Zealanders dying twice as fast from breast cancer
Kiwis are dying of advanced breast cancer twice as fast as people in comparable countries, prompting calls for urgent action from the medical community.
New research, published yesterday by the Breast Cancer Foundation of New Zealand, shows the average survival for a Kiwi patient with advanced breast cancer is just 16 months, compared with two to three years, or more, in countries such as Australia, Germany and France.
The foundation’s research manager, Adele Gautier, said the data was the firstof-its-kind for New Zealand and painted a very sad picture.
‘‘We are very good at treating early breast cancer, world-class in fact. Sadly, the numbers prove the same can’t be said once breast cancer spreads,’’ Gautier said.
‘‘Until now, we had no idea how bad things were for New Zealanders whose breast cancer has spread. It’s thanks to the data revealed for the first time by the Breast Cancer Foundation National Register that we’ve now learned the truth.’’
Advanced breast cancer (ABC) – also called metastatic, secondary or stage four – is breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes to another part of the body.
The I’m Still Here report found those Kiwis, once diagnosed with ABC, were likely to receive less treatment than in similar countries, with up to one-quarter receiving no treatment at all.
Dr Reena Ramsaroop, chairperson of the foundation’s medical advisory committee, said the new information was ‘‘vital’’ for the medical community moving forward. ‘‘We did this study because patients were telling us they feel forgotten, and cast aside,’’ she said.
‘‘No-one wants to think we are falling behind the rest of the world, yet the evidence is clear that this is happening.’’
The reasons for the low survival rate were attributed to several things, including the fact that New Zealand patients were getting less treatment – not just with new drugs, but with existing ones.
For example, half of all patients were not receiving chemotherapy that could extend their lives. Of those who did have it, many had only one line of treatment, which may have been of a shorter duration than overseas.
Whether the low chemotherapy rates were the result of doctors’ recommendations or patients declining treatment was still unclear.
In the wake of the report’s findings, the foundation has called for an urgent change in attitude that sets expectations higher, along with a raft of other recommendations around new drugs, free GP visits and prescription fee waivers.