Breast cancer drug Kisqali gets wider access on PBS

A drug that can delay the growth of breast cancer tumours is now available to more women under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Kisqali has been made available to more breast cancer patients.

For the first time in Australia, a drug that can delay the growth of tumours is available under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to women diagnosed with early breast cancer who are at risk of disease recurrence.

Until today, only those with metastatic disease that had spread to other parts of the body were able to access Kisqali, but now patients with no spread but have been diagnosed with lymph-node-positive disease are eligible.

Sally Baron-Hay, from cancer care provider GenesisCare, said that as an oncologist her primary goal is to reduce the risk of the disease returning.

“It is great to have another treatment option for early breast cancer patients with high risk breast cancer involving multiple lymph nodes,” she said.

Novartis Australia announced today that Kisqali (ribociclib) has been made available on the PBS for the treatment of Australians with the most commonly diagnosed type of early breast cancer — hormone receptor positions HR+ and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative HER2- for patients with stage II and III, node-positive diagnoses.

Research show that about one-third of those with stage II and more than half of those with stage III of early breast cancer will have a cancer recurrence.

The drug is another treatment option for early breast cancer patients.

“My hope is that all my EBC patients at high risk of cancer recurrence, regardless of how many lymph nodes the cancer has involved, will have access to Kisqali in the future,” Dr Baron-Hay said.

Every day 58 people in Australia are diagnosed with breast cancer and nine die from the disease

The majority of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at stage one to three, and approximately 70-80 per cent of all breast cancers belong to the common HR+ and HER2.

The PBS listing of Kisqali follows preliminary findings from the Australian breast cancer patient survey-based research – Project Shirley – which revealed fear of cancer recurrence is widespread.

Ninety-seven per cent of respondents indicated fear of cancer recurrence has influenced their ability to plan for the future, and more than 80 per cent of patients reported its impact on their family and social relationships.

Many survey respondents indicated that they experienced a lack of support when it came to managing their risk and fear of cancer recurrence.

Only 56 per cent recalled discussing it with their doctor and even fewer (33 per cent) said that they understood the topic well.

Originally published as Breast cancer drug Kisqali gets wider access on PBS