New hope for Aussies battling early stage breast cancer

Australians who live with a high risk of recurrence after early breast cancer will soon pay as little as $7.70 for an expanded treatment that could halt the disease from spreading.

The federal government is expanding subsidies for abemaciclib (Verzenio) for an additional 2400 Australians living with early stage breast cancer that has not yet spread beyond the area but has a high risk of doing so.

Natalie Fraser is one of those who benefited from the treatment after she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019.

The 54-year-old Sydney woman underwent a lumpectomy and mastectomy when doctors found early-stage cancer and was given the all-clear soon after.

"I considered myself one of the very lucky people who had a little brush with cancer," she said.

But two years on, Ms Fraser suffered a huge shock when the cancer returned in her lymph nodes.

"When the ultrasound operator said 'I need to get the doctor to have a look at something', my heart immediately sank, because I knew what that meant."

She underwent surgery in 2021 to remove her lymph nodes and battled four months of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation before being placed on a hormone-blocking treatment lasting to this day.

Her doctor prescribed her the treatment taken in conjunction with hormone therapy which was free on compassionate grounds.

"I've battled breast cancer twice and right now, I'm cancer-free," the mother of two said.

"I'm told there is a high risk that it will come back again, but that risk is greatly reduced with Verzenio.

"It's so important for women in my position to have access to new treatments that can help prevent that from happening."

The non-chemotherapy oral medicine blocks specific proteins inside cancer cells and halts them from spreading to other cells inside the body.

Until now, the treatment has only been available through the pharmaceutical benefits scheme for patients with advanced cancer that had spread beyond the breast.

One in eight patients with early breast cancer are classified as high risk and are three times more likely to have their cancer return as incurable advanced disease, North Sydney Mater Hospital oncologist Professor Fran Boyle said.

"We are now able to intensify treatment during the narrow window of opportunity after surgery when patients are treated with curative intent," Prof Boyle said.

Eligible patients will pay at most $1 per day for the medicine from May 1 compared to more than $100,000 for the two-year course of treatment before the subsidy.

Health Minister Mark Butler said thousands of Australian women get a life-changing breast cancer diagnosis every year.

"The Albanese government is working hard to ensure each one gets the latest and the best treatment at a price they can afford," he said.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Australian women and an estimated 20,500 Australians will be diagnosed in 2024.