FERTILITY PRESERVTION BECOMES MORE AFFORDABLE

Young women with breast cancer will have improved access to affordable fertility preservation treatments, after the Australian Government today announced the expanded listing of goserelin (Zoladex) on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Goserelin is currently listed on the PBS for hormone receptor positive breast cancer.

However young women with hormone receptor negative breast cancer who wish to access goserelin have previously had to pay approximately $330 per month. The announcement of the expanded listing means more women will have access to this fertility preservation treatment at the script fee of roughly $38 per month or $6.39 per month for concession card holders.

The expanded listing on the PBS will not only benefit women with ER negative breast cancer but it will also be available for premenopausal women having alkylating chemotherapy. This impacts women being treated for a range of diseases such as sarcoma, haem malignancies and rheumatological diseases such as lupus.

Research conducted by Breast Cancer Trials has been instrumental in the announcement by the Australian Government.

The POEMS clinical trial showed that premenopausal women who received monthly injections of goserelin were more likely to become pregnant after their breast cancer treatment. More than 250 women participated in the study worldwide.

Chemotherapy is usually given to women with breast cancer to destroy any remaining cancer cells after surgery and to prevent these cells from growing and spreading to other parts of the body. One in four breast cancer patients are premenopausal and, unfortunately, a common long term side effect of this treatment is early menopause. In addition to avoiding the potential long term medical problems resulting from early menopause (such as osteoporosis and heart disease), many young women also wish to avoid infertility which may result from treatment.

Professor Kelly Phillips is the Study Chair of the POEMS clinical trial and says the announcement provides more treatment choices for young women with breast cancer.

“Many young women who receive chemotherapy as part of their cancer treatment want to go on to have families, so making this treatment more affordable is a great outcome. This treatment is also important for premenopausal women who have completed their families as it may protect them from the adverse long-term health consequences of an early chemo-therapy induced menopause. Early menopause is associated with increased risk of osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and memory problems,” Professor Phillips said.

“It’s very satisfying for researchers and clinicians to see the results of past breast cancer clinical trials research being successfully put into practice. I thank all of our Principal Investigators and women who participated in the POEMS clinical trial, whose collaboration has contributed to this fantastic outcome.”

Breast Cancer Trials is the largest, independent, oncology clinical trials research group in Australia and New Zealand. For 40 years, Breast Cancer Trials has conducted a national clinical trials research program for the treatment, prevention and cure of breast cancer.

Amendments to the PBS listing are available on the Department of Health’s PBS website at: http://www.pbs.gov.au/browse/changes