SA Best pushes for $5 million to trial treatments for rare cancer patients
HUNDREDS of South Australians with rare cancers would be able to take part in clinical trials at home as part of a $5 million election proposal by SA Best.
SA 2018
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA 2018. Followed categories will be added to My News.
HUNDREDS of South Australians with rare cancers would be able to take part in clinical trials at home as part of a $5 million election proposal by SA Best.
Leader Nick Xenophon wants whichever party forms Government at Saturday’s election to commit the funding over five years to extend to Adelaide a program run by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
The money would enable 430 patients with rare cancers who are either under the age of 40 or in the advanced stage of the disease to undergo molecular testing to determine the best course of treatment.
Garvan head of cancer division Professor David Thomas said the funding would also pay for access to drugs through clinical trials.
The genomic cancer medicine program has been running for about 18 months in Sydney but eligible South Australian patients have to undergo arduous interstate travel at a time when their immune defences are low.
Mr Xenophon said the cost of opening trials at the SA Health and Medical Research Institute, on North Tce in the Adelaide CBD, would be equivalent to the price of “about 100m of tram track, but could save hundreds of lives”.
McLaren Vale father of two Luke South, 47, has had to travel to Sydney at least eight times for treatment after he was diagnosed with a rare cancer in his left foot.
He underwent amputation below the knee but the cancer spread to his lungs and he has since had part of his lung removed.
He said South Australians deserved to be “at the cutting edge of the research and the treatment that’s available”.
Grandfather of 10 Jonathan Pincus, 78, was diagnosed with a rare skin cancer in 2014 and has had five operations.
He was offered a place in an immunotherapy trial in Melbourne but did not want to travel regularly with a compromised immune system.
He pays out of pocket for immunotherapy but would have jumped at the chance to take part in an Adelaide trial.
“The only alternative for me was palliative care,” he said.
Long, hard look in the mirror can prepare Labor for future
NEW Labor Leader Peter Malinauskas has changed the party’s image, but a fundamental review of its stand on key issues like the economy and energy are crucial for a real political rebuild, writes Daniel Wills.
Malinauskas unveils Labor’s shadow cabinet
LABOR rising star Stephen Mullighan has claimed the prized treasury portfolio in a new-look Opposition frontbench which boasts double the number of women as in the Liberal Cabinet.