'I want this for other people': Survivor calls for expanded breast cancer drug funding after study shows reduction in deaths

A breast cancer drug funded for some New Zealanders with advanced breast cancer could help those with an early-stage of the disease live longer, a study has found.

The large international study, funded by Novartis, the manufacturer of the drug Ribociclib also known as Kisqali, indicated the treatment in combination with hormone therapy reduced the risk of death by 19 percent compared with hormone therapy alone.

It also suggested the risk of the disease returning reduced by 26 percent.

The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition said about 900 more patients with earlier-stage disease could benefit from the treatment if funding was expanded.

Psychiatrist Jo Pendergast, who was diagnosed with Hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer in 2021, told Nine to Noon, more access to the treatment in New Zealand could help a lot of people - even if it was too late for her.

Pendergast said Hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer made up about 70 percent of breast cancers and when hers was discovered it had already spread to a lymph node.

While she had now completed treatment, she said she was at higher risk of it coming back.

"It's difficult because everyone says 'oh it's amazing you made it to five years you must be so relived', but with hormone positive breast cancer the risk keeps going."

Pendergast said she was on hormone blockers now and would probably stay on them for up to 10 years to try and stop the cancer coming back.

She said in New Zealand hormone blockers were the only thing she could have, but if she lived in Australia and was diagnosed now she would be on a CDK inhibitor which would reduce her risk of the cancer coming back by about another 30 percent.

"It would reduce that recurrence anxiety hugely to know I was doing everything I could."

Pendergast said she was in a group of doctors with breast cancer and there were some considering moving to Australia with their families just so they could get the treatment.

"It would make a huge difference to have access for early breast cancer, while it's too late for me now, being five years down the track, I really want this for other people."

Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition chairperson Libby Burgess, told Nine to Noon, New Zealand needed these medicines to be rolled out more widely to treat people with early breast cancer to give them the best chance of curing the disease and not having it return as advanced cancer.

She said in New Zealand it was only funded for those with the advanced stage of the disease while that was not the case in other countries including the United Kingdom and Australia.

"It's great that they're available if you have an advanced disease but we need to offer them in earlier disease."

She said the budget needed to be found to pay for it.

Pharmac's advisory committee had recommended two of the medications, Burgess said, but hadn't moved beyond that advice.