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Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition media release, 7 September 2018
New Zealand needs to stop treating people with advanced breast cancer as second class citizens, Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) says.
The coalition of more than 30 breast cancer-related group says a report out today by the Breast Cancer Foundation of New Zealand (BCFNZ) reveals the shockingly high mortality rates for New Zealand women compared to other comparable countries.
The Government must increase funding for medicines desperately needed by people with breast cancer and other cancers, Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) says.
Watch this powerful video of people with breast cancer explaining why they desperately need access to medicines that are currently unfunded in NZ - to stay alive and get more time with their families: Click here to watch: What price do you put on life?
A wealth of knowledge has been brought back to New Zealand by two Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition representatives following the Breast Cancer Trials Australia New Zealand annual scientific meeting in Australia.
Committee members Louise Malone and Fay Sowerby attended to gather the latest intelligence to contribute to BCAC’s work supporting, informing and representing women with breast cancer.
Recent international developments in breast cancer medicine approvals emphasise the need for a much broader range of medicines in New Zealand. Availability, combined with funding, would enable oncologists to choose the best medicines and combinations for individual patients, Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) says.
Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition and Breast Cancer Foundation NZ have made a strongly worded and evidence-based joint submission to PHARMAC requesting that funding for Perjeta (pertuzumab) be extended to all people with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer.
Representatives of Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) went to Wellington recently to meet with Government and National MPs who have health responsibilities to discuss some of the key issues affecting those with breast cancer.
The two key issues highlighted by BCAC in the talks were the need to improve access to medicines; and the need to address inequities for Māori and Pasifika women in breast cancer screening and treatment.
Important research released 21 June shows huge disparities in breast cancer screening, treatment and outcomes for Māori and Pasifika women in New Zealand.
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) says this is unacceptable and is calling for significant immediate steps to be taken to improve this situation.
BCAC is thrilled a clinical trial involving American engineer Judy Perkins has led to her being declared free of breast cancer with what specialists are calling an extended remission. This wonderful news has come two years after she was told she had only three months to live.
The trial of the experimental therapy was carried out by the US National Cancer Institute. BCAC are aware there is still much to learn before scientists can turn this experimental therapy into a treatment.
More women with the most common form of early stage breast cancer may not need chemotherapy and may instead rely on hormone therapies, according to a landmark study.
The findings in the study were based on a 21-tumor gene expression test which would also inform treatment decisions in real life.
