9 January 2014 - Improvements in lung cancer treatment are set to continue with a PHARMAC decision to extend funding for erlotinib (Tarceva) from 1 January 2014.
Erlotinib and another similar drug gefitinib (Iressa) are tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) that have changed the way aggressive lung cancer is treated, and improved the prospects of people diagnosed with lung cancer.
Ministry of Health data shows that while colon cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer and melanoma are most commonly diagnosed in New Zealand, the leading cause of cancer deaths is lung cancer.
TKIs are part of a new wave of targeted cancer medicines, which are particularly effective for patients with lung cancer that harbour a particular genetic sequence. Patients are identified using a diagnostic test called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) testing. For people with this type of disease, targetted TKIs offer more effective, less toxic, and more convenient treatment.
Erlotinib was the first TKI to be funded in 2010, and since then access has been improved and widened so that from 1 January 2014, both erlotinib and gefitinib are funded for people who are newly diagnosed and who have not previously had platinum-based chemotherapy.

For more details, go to: http://www.pharmac.health.nz/news/item/lung-cancer-treatment-takes-another-forward-step