Kidney cancer drug: New Government subsidy
Hundreds of patients being treated for renal cell carcinoma – a major form of kidney cancer – will benefit from Government-subsidised access to sunitinib (Sutent®) under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Sunitinib is a targeted therapy that both slows down the growth of cancer cells and cuts off the blood supply they need to divide and grow. It can also limit the spread of cancer to other organs.
Renal cell cancer arises from the cells of the renal tubule. It accounts for about 70 per cent of kidney cancers which, in turn, account for about two per cent of all malignancies.
The management and prognosis of a patient with renal cell cancer is determined by the stage of the disease. Surgery is the only curative treatment option for localised renal cell cancer.
As renal cell cancer progresses, the tumour grows and enlarges, and often spreads to adjacent organs. The symptoms and signs of the disease are generally caused either by invasion beyond the kidney of the tumour, or by the size of the tumour mass.
About a third of patients with renal cell cancer develop metastatic spread; the most common sites of metastases are the lungs, lymph nodes, brain, bone and liver. Patients with metastatic renal cell cancer have a poor prognosis, with a median survival of about 13 months and fewer than five per cent of patients surviving longer than five years.
About 644 people will begin using sunitinib for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma in the first full financial year of listing.
The listing of sunitinib will add about $131.0 million to PBS and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme expenditure between 2008-09 and 2012-13.
