Cancer drug bid

By Tania Martin
AN EMERALD woman is calling for all Australians to sign a petition in a bid to fast track new cancer drug Herceptin on to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) register.
Lynda Sharp has been fighting along with her sister Maree Bissels, who has breast cancer, for the last three months to make the drug accessible to all cancer sufferers.
At the moment Herceptin, in its early clinical trials, is only being prescribed to people with terminal cancer.
The drug costs $70,000 per year, but no money has been budgeted for its inclusion on the PBS register until 2008.
Ms Bissels, a Yarra Valley resident, has a rapidly growing form of breast cancer called HER-2 positive.
She was diagnosed with the cancer in June, only 18 months after receiving the all clear from a mammogram.
Ms Sharp said her sister’s cancer had not only grown in 18 months but was 10 times the average size.
“The average sized breast cancer is five millimetres, but Maree’s was 50mm. It is a really aggressive type of cancer,” she said.
Ms Bissels’ oncologists have told her that her best chance to ensure no further cancers develop is to access Herceptin.
But the problem facing her and other cancer sufferers across Australia is the cost of Herceptin.
Ms Bissels said it was unfair that she not only had to fight her cancer day and night, but also had to fight for the medication that she needed.
“We need support from high profile people as our own voice does not seem strong enough, but through the petition we will have a voice,” she said.
“The reason we are doing this is not only for me but for the thousands of women who have to fight cancer and worry if they have enough money for their treatment,” she said.
In May the National Breast Cancer Centre (NBCC) announced that three preliminary international trials found that Herceptin significantly decreased the risk of breast cancer coming back in women with HER-2 positive early stage breast cancer.
NBCC director Helen Zorbas said the results provided information about a potential additional tool in the treatment of 25 per cent of women with this more aggressive type of early breast cancer.
“These important new findings will improve our ability to tailor treatment for women with breast cancer based on the specific characteristics of their disease,” Dr Zorbas said.
Ms Sharp said her sister had written to Prime Minister John Howard in an attempt to fast track the process.
She claimed the government said that Roche, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures Herceptin, needed to first provide more scientific research on the impacts of the drugs.
But Ms Sharp and her family believe that the recent trials are proof enough that the drug works.
“Herceptin is why we all buy ribbons for breast cancer and other diseases to raise money for the research and development of a cancer drug,” she said.
Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato has supported Ms Sharp and Ms Bissels’ calls for help in fast tracking Herceptin to the PBS register.