Prostate cancer drug considered for PBS

Prostate cancer sufferers should find out within the next fortnight whether an expensive treatment will be subsidised by the federal government.

For the third time, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) is considering whether to list Taxotere on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

The drug, which slows the growth of cancer cells in the body, costs between $10,000 to $15,000 a year for prostate patients.

It is the only therapy for men with late-stage prostate cancer proven to extend life - an average of 2.5 months.

Taxotere is PBS-listed for the treatment of breast cancer, lung cancer and ovarian cancer but two attempts to include prostate cancer on the list were rejected in 2005 and 2006.

That is because the cost of listing Taxotere on the scheme is seen as outweighing the benefits.

Tony Sonneveld was diagnosed with prostate cancer four years ago, but after significant treatment the disease was declared terminal.

"Once the cancer has moved into the skeletal structure they can't cure it, they can only control it," he said.

Doctors have told Mr Sonneveld he could live for another 10 years, or it may be only two.

The 61-year-old is frank that he does have a terminal illness, but wants to ensure that his last months are bearable by using Taxotere.

"What it would give me when the time comes is better quality of life over the last four months of my life and would probably make death easier to accept," he said.

"It won't change the outcome, it will just make the outcome more palatable and give some indeterminate extra time."

Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Australian men with about 18,700 diagnoses in 2006.

source : www.theage.com.au