Thirroul leukaemia survivor John Stubbs says a new medicine is providing fresh hope in the fight against the most common form of the cancer.
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Mr Stubbs, who is chief executive of advocacy group CanSpeak, said the new cancer-fighting medicine works to prevent leukaemia cells from multiplying and spreading.
The cancer therapy, Imbruvica, has received approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration for the treatment of Australians with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) where the disease has progressed despite treatment with standard therapies.
Mr Stubbs said about 1000 Australians were diagnosed with CLL each year, while at least one Australian died from it nearly every day.
He said the leukaemia community had high hopes that Imbruvica, and other new treatment options, would be placed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
"There's not been a lot of advances in the treatment for this form of leukaemia for some time, so this is quite a breakthrough," Mr Stubbs said.
"The current treatment usually involves a bone marrow transplant when all other options have failed, and as someone who has been through that, I can tell you it is quite horrendous.
"This new drug will prevent that, and is taken orally which means people don't have to go to hospital so it's a bit of a game-changer in terms of treatment."
Mr Stubbs was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in 1999, when doctors gave him three to five years to live. He said he was lucky enough to find a perfect bone marrow match from a US donor, and underwent a transplant in 2001.
"Since that time I've worked exclusively in the cancer space advocating for better outcomes for cancer patients," he said.
"There's been advances in treatment for CML and now comes this truly tremendous advancement for CLL. However, like all cancer drugs, it's costly and so we would be calling on the government to put it on the PBS to make it more accessible."
Professor Stephen Mulligan, haematologist at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital, said cancer cells stopped responding to currently available treatments in many patients.
"CLL circulates silently in the blood and may become resistant to standard therapies, so having a new treatment as another option is extremely important," he said.
Chris Hourigan, managing director of Janssen (the company behind Imbruvica), welcomed regulatory approval.
"We are committed to working closely with the federal government so that all patients are able to access the therapy through the PBS at the earliest possible opportunity," he said.
lwachsmuth@fairfaxmedia.com.au