Grant McArthur
FOR five years, Graeme Stuart has been living with a cancer that normally claims sufferers within 3 1/2 years. And thanks to a new medication, he is hoping for many years more.
The Hepburn grandfather is one of just 200 Australians being offered a treatment for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.
Each year, 1200 cases are diagnosed.
Though it will be at least two years before Revlimid is assessed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use in Australia, six Victorian hospitals have been granted limited access to the drug.
Tests that have already been conducted in Australia have added an average of 14 months to patients' lives.
Mr Stuart, 75, gained an early taste of the benefits of the drug in a clinical trial three years ago.
And thanks to the limited release, he has now been taking the drug for two years.
"I thank my lucky stars I am getting this treatment. It's wonderful, and I'm responding to it," Mr Stuart said.
"I counted myself very lucky to be offered a chance in the original trial. When they put me on the real thing, I had a remarkable improvement.
"And for the last six months or more, they haven't even been able to detect the activity of the cancer," he said.
"I feel very hopeful about the whole thing."
Prof Miles Prince, who is overseeing Mr Stuart's treatment at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, said the drug worked by stimulating the patient's immune system to recognise the cancer, eliminating many of the side effects of chemotherapy.
"We have been eagerly waiting to get access to this drug, and hopefully we will get increased access over the next two years while we await assessment by the TGA," Prof Prince said.
"For a disease that has an average survival of only 3 1/2 years, adding an extra 14 months is enormous," he said.
International trials are also continuing to see if Revlimid or other similar drugs are effective in treating other cancers.
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