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.
About 1,500 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer annually in Australia, and most of those are diagnosed at an advanced stage when their ovarian cancer is more difficult to successfully treat.
