B.C.: first province to cover cost of breast cancer drug

B.C. becomes first province to cover cost of promising breast cancer drug
at 20:55 on July 11, 2005, EST.
CAMILLE BAINS

VANCOUVER (CP) - British Columbia became the first province on Monday to cover the cost of a promising drug therapy to fight an aggressive form of breast cancer in its early stages.

Health Minister George Abbott told a news conference that the government and the B.C. Cancer Agency will commit $8 million in funding every year so that eligible patients can have immediate access to Herceptin, hailed as a wonder drug.

"Herceptin offers new promise to these women with breast cancer and that's great news for every British Columbian," Abbott said.

In May, the American Society of Clinical Oncology reported in yet-to-be-published results from three studies that 52 per cent of women who took Herceptin remained cancer free after four years.

"Even more impressive, there was a 33 per cent improvement in overall survival for patients on Herceptin," Abbott said about the studies.

Wynne Powell, chairman of the Provincial Health Services Authority board of directors, called Monday's announcement incredible.

"To bring a drug therapy from clinical trial results to wide implementation in the space of weeks is almost unheard of in Canada or anywhere in the world," Powell said.

For Moya Whelan, who received Herceptin during a clinical trial, the drug means a chance at survival.

"I, like everybody, want to live and this just doubled my chances," Whelan told the news conference.

Lisa Priebe, who was also given the drug in the same trial, echoed Whelan's sentiments,

"Today is especially great because we're winning, we're winning the battle," Priebe said, adding she is particularly grateful because she has two young daughters.

While Canada approved Herceptin in 1998, it's been up to the provinces to find ways to pay for the expensive drug, which is given intravenously once every three weeks.

The average cost of treatment for one year can be about $47,000, depending on the patient's weight.

But the government is counting on substantial cost savings from reduced recurrence of breast cancer, whose treatment can reach as high as $90,000 a year.

Oncologist Dr. Karen Gelmon, leader of the provincial breast tumour group, said Herceptin has some side effects, including the fact that it can cause damage to the heart in some women.

So far, Alberta and Saskatchewan have paid the cost of the drug, but only for advanced stages of breast cancer.

Herceptin can help women whose tumour cells have a genetic abnormality called HER-2, which signals the body to reproduce cancer cells.

To be eligible for Herceptin, patients must test positive for HER-2, a protein that makes the breast cancer more difficult to treat

Women who are completing chemotherapy or who finished the treatment after April 1 will have access to the drug through the B.C. Cancer Agency.

Patients who completed chemotherapy between July 1, 2004, and March 31, 2005, should contact their specialist to determine whether the drug would be beneficial.

Herceptin works by blocking the overproduction of the HER-2 protein and inhibiting cancer-cell growth without harming healthy cells or producing side effects like nausea or hair loss, as is the case with chemotherapy.

The drug was developed in the 1990s by a San Francisco biotechnology firm that was later bought by a Swiss company.

Demand for Herceptin exploded in 1998 in the United States after the Food and Drug Administration rushed through approval.

Source[/color]