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During 2011 BCAC reported on a research study underway through the University of Auckland designed to look at the psychological impact of fears about cancer recurrence in women who’ve been treated for breast cancer.
The pilot study for this research has now been completed and the main study is well underway. It is being run by doctoral student, Loshni Rogers and she says the response from women has been excellent and many have been happy to share their experiences. One hundred and eight women have been recruited so far and the researchers are looking to recruit a further 22.
1 March 2012
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) expressed some disappointment today at the decision by PHARMAC to fund lapatinib (Tykerb) as an alternative to Herceptin for advanced HER2 positive breast cancer for use as a “first-line” metastatic treatment.
Libby Burgess, chair of BCAC says, “This is a disappointing decision as it will not help the vast majority of patients with advanced HER2 positive breast cancer. The real need for lapatinib is as a “second-line” treatment, to be used after Herceptin, not as an alternative to it.”
Following our feature article about new BCAC member group, Shocking Pink, a group providing information for young women with breast cancer, BCAC committee member, Gillian Wintrup, shares her story. She was just 35 when diagnosed with breast cancer.
BCAC welcomes new figures released by the Government last week (February 10, 2012) that show nearly 40,000 more women aged 50 to 69 have taken part in the Government’s free breast cancer screening programme in the 24 months to October 2011 than in the previous two years.
A total of 344,268 women participated in breast screening through BreastScreen Aotearoa in the two years ending in October 2011, compared with 305,839 women between 2007 and 2009.
Associate Health Minister Jo Goodhew says, "Within the overall increase, the percentage of Māori women and Pacific women taking part on the programme has had the greatest increase. Those numbers increased by 5138 Maori and 3038 Pacific in that time period.
Shocking Pink is a new New Zealand charity dedicated to supporting young women (aged 20-45) through their journey of breast cancer (and out the other side!) and is one of BCAC’s newest member groups.
Shocking Pink was co-founded by Kylie Richardson and Cheryle Robins, who during 2010 were both to embark on something far more unexpected, far more unplanned and far more trying than either of them could have ever imagined. It would be the year they both got the shock of their lives when they discovered their very own boobs were actually ticking time-bombs.
New Zealanders have a good understanding of ‘breast cancer’ thanks to a wealth of information and publicity, but when prefaced by the word ‘secondary’, misunderstanding and fear arise accompanied by hushed comments like ‘terminal’ and ‘lost the battle’.
In response, breast cancer organisations are stepping up to provide more information for the public, as well as targeted services for those diagnosed with secondary breast cancer … and women living with this stage of the disease are making their voices heard too.
The Government announced last week (Jan. 18, 2012) that medical oncology would be added to the cancer waiting time targets from the middle of this year. This means all patients who need chemotherapy treatment should receive treatment within the international gold standard of four weeks.
This announcement came as part of an update to the Government’s six national health targets.
BCAC chair, Libby Burgess says “We are delighted to see the implementation of a four week target for chemotherapy. The announcement gives patients certainty that our health system will deliver timely cancer treatment and it’s reassuring to know that the government is working to ensure that New Zealanders receive world-class cancer care.”
Significant research results announced during the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) (December 2011) showed that adding a new targeted medicine, pertuzumab, to a combination of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and docetaxel chemotherapy extended progression-free survival by a median of 6.1 months in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer compared with patients who received the combination therapy with placebo.
Sweet Louise is the operational arm of the Louise Perkins Foundation, a charitable trust launched in October 2006 with the vision of ‘positive lives with breast cancer’. Sweet Louise’s unique mission is to help improve the quality of life and well-being of women and men living with metastatic (also known as secondary or advanced) breast cancer.
As they continue to expand throughout New Zealand, a new position of ‘Fundraising Coordinator’ has been created to help develop and implement Sweet Louise fundraising initiatives to grow fundraising income.
BCAC member group, WONS, a women’s health charity is re-branding; from 1 January 2012 WONS will be known as Well Women & Family Trust.
WONS (Well Women’s Nursing Service) was founded in 1989 and since then has evolved significantly. Their new brand – Well Women & Family Trust - encompasses the focus on the health of women, the family/whanau and communities.
Each year WONS performs cervical smear tests for 3,000 high need women, educates over 10,000 women on a range of health issues, delivers health promotion training sessions to help local women become health advocates and conducts women's health days in low income areas.
