‘More time with loved ones’
A Timaru breast cancer survivor is thrilled a life-prolonging breast cancer drug could soon be publicly funded, saving patients thousands of dollars.
Pharmac announced this week it had reached a provisional agreement with medicine supplier Pfizer to fund palbociclib – marketed as Ibrance – for first-line and second-line treatment of certain types of breast cancer.
The medicine could be prescribed to patients from April this year, if feedback from consultation was positive, and the proposal approved by the Pharmac board.
South Canterbury Mammography Trust trustee and Shocking Pink support group member Georgina Hamilton said the news was ‘‘fantastic’’.
‘‘The possibility that there would be a drug like this is just wonderful news, particularly for those with advanced breast cancer.
‘‘I understand this type of medication is something that will stop, or slow down, the process of breast cancer which will give people more time with their loved ones I guess.’’
Hamilton was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 at the age of 39. She said had the drug been available sooner it could have helped extend more lives of those living with breast cancer.
‘‘We have had some of our members who have passed away in the last couple of years and this would’ve been from advanced breast cancer. A drug like this would’ve given them more time.
‘‘The message is that this is wonderful news if this proposal is taken to its logical conclusion, particularly for those in the advanced stage.’’
The group Shocking Pink played an integral role in helping her fight and beat cancer, she said.
‘‘It is a local group of young women who have been diagnosed. To be part of that club you have to be 45 or younger when you were diagnosed.
‘‘I think we’ve got about 12 women that are part of that group at the moment and certainly we’re all survivors,’’ Hamilton said.
Julian Cox, who is in the middle of a 1200-kilometre tandem bike ride with his wife Camilla in an effort to persuade the Government to increase the funding of Pharmac, said the availability of the drug Ibrance will be life-transforming for those living with breast cancer.
However, he said delays in starting the proposal have cost lives.
‘‘We’re absolutely thrilled for the people waiting for that drug. We’re disappointed it sounds like it took two years to get it funded,’’ said Cox, who rode through Timaru on Monday.
‘‘How many unnecessary deaths occurred in that time?’’