Women with advanced ovarian cancer can now pay significantly less for a groundbreaking drug, in a move that has been hailed as the biggest development in the treatment of the disease in 30 years.
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The cost of a month of treatment of Lynparza, also known as Olaparib, fell from $2250 to $38 as it was added to the Commonwealth-funded Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme on Wednesday.
From the same day, gene mutations testing for relapsed ovarian cancer sufferers would be reimbursement through the Medicare Benefits Schedule, so sufferers could know whether genes played a role and access the right treatment.
Head of the Ovarian Cancer Laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Associate Professor Clare Scott, said cheaper access to Lynparza was a huge step forward.
"BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 are present in 15-20 per cent of women with ovarian cancer and are genes that some women have inherited an abnormal copy of, which predisposes them to the cancer," Professor Scott said.
"Lynparza is a treatment which has been targeted to the defect in the ovarian cancer caused by the BRCA gene. And when you have a targeted or matched treatment there is a better chance generally that the treatment will be effective."
Lynparza was first approved by Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration a year ago. Until now, women who could afford it would pay $13,500 for six months of treatment.
Professor Scott said the reimbursement of the BRCA testing for women with relapsed ovarian cancer could lead to the screening and detection of the gene mutation in family members.
Ovarian Cancer Australia CEO Jane Hill praised the PBS listing of Lynparza, saying treatment options for advanced ovarian cancer had not changed since the 1980s.
"This new class of anti-cancer drugs, while not a cure, is a promising indication that new and improved therapies can, and will, be found," she said.
"The day-to-day lives of women with advanced ovarian cancer will be improved."
Lynparza is offered to women with a BRCA gene mutation who have responded to treatment with chemotherapy.
Canberran Helen Smith, whose ovarian cancer has returned twice since she was first diagnosed in 2011, has undertaken two trials for Lynparza, firstly in 2014 and again in 2015 after a bowel operation.
She says the treatment improved her quality of life after months of chemotherapy.
"After I went on the trial drug the cancer has been very minimal now," she said.
"At first I felt very tired, but the side effects have completely gone now. I just take it as a tablet rather than going into hospital for a day and I don't have the nauseousness or hair loss or any of the side effects like [I did when I was having] chemotherapy."
Ms Smith said having Lynparza on the PBS would allow her to continue the treatment at the end of the trial and would benefit women who would otherwise struggle to afford the drug or access a trial.
Despite welcoming the progress in treatment options, Ms Smith said increased funding for research of ovarian cancer and awareness of its symptoms were crucial.
One Australian woman dies every ten hours from ovarian cancer and 1,500 are diagnosed annually.
In the cancer's early stages, women have an 80 per cent chance of being alive and well after five years, but for the 75 per cent of women diagnosed with advanced cancer the survival rate drops to 43 per cent. This is the lowest survival rate of any women's cancer, Ovarian Cancer Australia reports.
Unlike cervical and breast cancer there is no early detection test, instead recognising the risks and symptoms is vital.
Symptoms can be vague and include abdominal bloating, trouble eating or feeling full quickly, frequent or urgent urination, constipation, menstrual irregularities, fatigue, indigestion, and pain in the back, abdomen or pelvis.
