Patients slow to take up Herceptin
By RUTH HILL - The Dominion Post
Fewer breast-cancer patients than expected are taking a 12-month course of Herceptin, suggesting some have been scared off by the risk of heart failure.
Critics say a lag in uptake shows the Government's decision to fund the drug – overturning Pharmac's original decision – was misguided and a waste of money.
National, which made an election promise to fund the 12-month treatment, had anticipated about 300 patients a year would be eligible for the drug, which can cost up to $90,000 per person.
But a year on, a third of eligible patients have opted to stick with the nine-week regime, previously the only funded option.
Auckland District Health Board figures show Herceptin spending has been about $200,000 less than budgeted for the region.
Auckland Women's Health Council co-ordinator Lynda Williams said many women were shocked to learn Herceptin could have serious side-effects.
"I find it disheartening that women were led to believe this was a wonder-drug, a cure, which it's not." By making Herceptin an election issue, National had pandered to a vocal minority, she said.
Auckland oncologist Vernon Harvey, who is leading the New Zealand arm of an international clinical trial into the effectiveness of nine weeks v 52 weeks' treatment, said nobody had pulled out since the full-year treatment became free.
Out of 160 non-trial Herceptin patients between December and May, 37 chose the shorter course. For some, it could be "convenience"; for others, the risk to their health from the drug was greater than its possible benefit, he said.
Oncologist Andy Simpson, clinical director of the Wellington Blood and Cancer Centre, said most women in the central region for whom Herceptin was appropriate had taken up the 12-month treatment – but it was only suitable for 15 per cent to 20 per cent of early breast-cancer patients.
