Melanoma wonder drug Yervoy out of reach for most Australians

ANNA Harper was given two months to live in February after being diagnosed with a rapidly spreading melanoma but, after treatment with a new drug, 90 per cent of her cancer has disappeared.

A melanoma spot

The Melbourne mother of two was treated with a medicine that is subsidised for use in the UK, but has twice been knocked back for subsidy in Australia, even though we hold the dubious honour of being the skin cancer hotspot of the world. More than 10,000 people are diagnosed with skin cancer in Australia each year, 1200 die from the disease and the chance of getting melanoma here is 48 in 100,000, compared with 17 in 100,000 in the UK. American-made drug Yervoy uses the body's immune system to fight off advanced skin cancer. It has been registered for use in Australia but costs $120,000 for each treatment.

And subsidy knockbacks prompted drug company Bristol Myers Squibb to axe its patient access scheme, which provided Yervoy for free - and which enabled Mrs Harper to get the drug. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee will consider a third submission for a subsidy this week. Graeme Webb, whose melanoma has spread to his lungs, bowel and pelvis is desperate to try the $120,000 treatment to buy more time with his wife Katie and two small sons Lawson, two and Fletcher, six months, but can't afford it. "I'm certainly not wanting to put my family in a situation where I'm selling the house to access a drug," the Perth father said. The drug has put the issue of whether society can afford highly expensive medical treatments back on the agenda.

 

Anna Harper and daughter Emily. The Melbourne mum was given just weeks to live, but now 90 per cent of her cancer is gone. Picture: Andrew Tauber.

Professor of Melanoma Biology at the University of Sydney, Peter Hersey, says the 30 per cent of advanced melanoma patients who benefit from Yervoy have their survival rate doubled. Half the patients using standard chemotherapy treatments survive for 6-9 months with advanced melanoma, while with Yervoy their expected survival rate is 18-19 months, he said. Some are even alive five years after starting the treatment. "The problem is we can't tell which patients will respond, that's why we've had difficulty convincing the PBAC of its benefit," he said. "If it costs less than $50,000 or less to save a year of life it's almost automatically approved, if it's $70,000 it's more difficult to prove and Yervoy is way above that," he said. "Yervoy and another treatment Vemurafenib, which works in 40 per cent of melanoma patients who have a gene mutation are the first drugs to show a survival advantage in melanoma," Professor Henry said. "The history of treating melanoma patients is once it's spread from the skin has been fairly dismal, nothing had an effect at all on survival until trials of Yervoy," he said.

Mrs Harper said that "for me its been life saving". "If it hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here or I'd be sick in hospital," she said. Yervoy patients require just four treatments a month apart. However, the drug has serious side effects with some patients dying from toxicity or bowel perforations.

 Source: news.com.au  

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