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Two new treatments funded for blood disorders and cancers
Media release
Two new treatments funded for blood disorders and cancers
20 August, 2014
Up to 400 patients a year are likely to live longer as a result of PHARMAC funding two new medicines.
The medicines are azacitidine (Vidaza) and lenalidomide (Revlimid), which will be funded from 1 September.
Azacitidine is being
funded for a group of blood disorders collectively known as
myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and for two types of
leukaemia (chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia
and
MDS-associated acute myeloid
leukaemia).
Lenalidomide will be funded for multiple
myeloma, a type of blood cancer. It will be an alternative
to the currently funded treatments bortezomib and
thalidomide, and funded for use in patients
if these
treatments fail.
Director of Operations Sarah Fitt says
both new medicines have proven effectiveness and should lead
to patients living longer. They are important additions to
the tools that haematologists will
have to treat multiple
myeloma, leukaemia and MDS.
“Clinical trials of
azacitidine showed it nearly doubles the survival rate of
people with MDS, compared to conventional treatment,” she
says. “This is a significant improvement for this patient
group,
who have had limited treatment options.
“In
the case of lenalidomide, the aim of treatment is to delay
disease progression and also to prolong life. The trials
show that lenalidomide is effective in patients whose
disease has progressed
after receiving previous
treatments.”
Sarah Fitt says another benefit of
lenalidomide is that it doesn’t have some of the side
effects of the other funded treatments, which can be
debilitating for patients. Bortezomib and thalidomide
can
cause peripheral neuropathy, a condition that causes
tingling, numbness and pain in hands and feet.
“So, as
well as being an effective treatment, lenalidomide is less
likely to cause debilitating peripheral neuropathy than the
currently available treatments, so it may be a better
treatment option for
some
patients.”
ENDS
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