Cop’s plea for cancer drug
AWest Auckland detective and mother battling incurable cancer is trying to raise $130,000 for treatment that may extend her life. Detective Sarah Cato, 35, was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago.
After having a mastectomy she found the cancer had spread through her body and was metastatic, or incurable.
The five-year survival rate for metastatic breast cancer is about 22 per cent.
Since her diagnosis, Cato has had a gruelling regime of chemotherapy and radiation — taking almost no time off work as she fights against family violence, child abuse and investigates high profile homicides — and has been taking Herceptin to slow further cancer growth.
“I’ve been battling pretty serious cancer for the last four years.
“I’ve been doing that very well but
I hate having to ask for money. I’m a mum, a cop — I’m the protector usually. Sarah Cato, pictured with her dog Archie
I need to come up with a plan B.”
Plan B is a drug called Perjeta (also known as Pertuzumab) which, used in conjunction with Herceptin, has been shown to reduce patients’ risk of cancer worsening by 38 per cent.
Pharmac started funding Perjeta — but only for patients who have not had Herceptin or chemotherapy.
That means about 160 people including Cato must pay if they want the treatment. “It’s going to cost me in excess of about $130,000.”
“The drug itself is capped at about $80,000, however there’s ongoing infusion costs which are between $3000 to $5000 a month which is just unattainable for me.”
The mother of one wants as much time as possible with her family and to help victims of crime through her job, and is now asking Kiwis to help her pay for the treatment.
Cato and her Waitemata police colleagues are planning a fundraiser function with a silent auction.
They are calling on donations of auction items and are looking for offers of a venue, food and beverages, music and entertainment.
A page will also be set up online. Cato said asking for help was awkward, but she was desperate to stay alive, firstly for her daughter but also to keep supporting and working for her family and community.
“I hate having to ask for money. I’m a mum, a cop — I’m the protector usually,” she said. “But I need this.
“It would benefit me greatly . . . It means longevity, it could add potentially a couple of years on to my life. “I need to keep living,” Cato said. “I’ve got a lot more to achieve in my life — and I’m a mum, I need to be alive for my daughter.”
Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition chair Libby Burgess said it was tragic that Cato and the other 159 other patients had been denied access to Perjeta by Pharmac.
“This is particularly cruel ... It would give them more time and better quality time,” she said. “Women like [Cato], it’s really obvious the value they bring to the community.
“They are really valued and loved members, why wouldn’t we support such a warrior woman?”
Pharmac director of operations Lisa Williams said its pharmacology and therapeutics advisory committee said last February that the available evidence wasn’t strong enough, or of a high enough quality, to support the use of Pertuzumab for people who had already had treatment.