Fears breast cancer drug could come much too late
Women fighting to secure funding for game-changing breast cancer medication know it could come too late for some.
Palmerston North woman Julie Bunnell is one of the many who marched on Parliament on Tuesday to deliver a petition asking for Pharmac funding of drugs Ibrance and Kadcyla – treatments for advanced breast cancer.
The 63-year-old has breast cancer and said she was one of the lucky ones who could afford to self-fund Ibrance, which costs about $5800 a month. Kadcyla costs about $9000 every three weeks.
There are fears that even if the drugs are funded, it may be too late for some of the women already suffering from breast cancer by the time a decision is made.
‘‘I suspect by the time they make a decision it won’t make any difference for me, because nothing works forever.’’
Bunnell said their visit to Parliament was well received and now the women hoped the Government listens to them quickly.
‘‘It won’t make a difference to me. It will make a difference to a lot of other people and I’m aware some people can’t self-fund.
‘‘It’s just not possible if you’re young and you’ve got a family or a mortgage. Those are the difficult decisions. How do you balance spending that kind of money?’’
The drugs aren’t thought to extend survival, but they improve quality of life.
‘‘I suspect by the time they make a decision it won’t make any difference for me, because nothing works forever.’’ Julie Bunnell
Many women suffering breast cancer want them to be Government- funded and Bunnell said Pharmac hadn’t kept pace with the development of new drugs.
‘‘It’s true many of those drugs are expensive, but that’s the realistic cost of hospital treatment and it could be money well spent.’’
Pharmac’s director of operations Lisa Williams has said the Government bulk purchaser had received a funding application for Ibrance earlier this year and would seek expert clinical advice.
Bunnell was diagnosed six years ago with metastatic breast cancer and has responded to some treatments.
She retired three years ago after working at Massey University for 25 years academically in psychology, then in administration in the office of the pro vice-chancellor.
‘‘I’ve been using savings that I have. I’m lucky in that I’m already retired. I’ve had a good job and I saved for retirement.
‘‘I’m probably not going to be able to use those retirement savings. I’m using some of it to now to fund the drug, which is a reasonable thing to do.
‘‘If I get to 90 and run out of money that will be a good problem to have.’’
She said it was a scary diagnosis because some people lived a long time, while some didn’t.
‘‘It’s good luck, it’s not good management. There’s people who are not so lucky and there’s a huge element of luck rather than what we do.
‘‘You might respond to medicine and someone else won’t. You might have an aggressive form of cancer, but someone else won’t.’’
Bunnell didn’t undergo chemotherapy, but she has taken three hormonal therapies.
She said Ibrance is a first-line treatment in many developed countries New Zealand liked to compare itself with.