17 December 2021
Medicine agency recommends listing of life-saving drugs for Australian men with deadly forms of prostate cancer
Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) has welcomed recommendations by Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee to list two life-extending drugs for men with aggressive forms of potentially deadly prostate cancer.
The agency has recommended the listing of apalutamide (brand name Erlyand®) and olaparib (Lynparza®).
About Lynparza
Lynparza is the first targeted treatment to be registered and recommended for listing by Australia’s medicine agencies for men with BRCA 1 and 2 linked prostate cancers, and could give about 2000 men with aggressive prostate cancer more time with their families.
The drug can lower the risk of death for men with certain types of prostate cancer by 31 per cent compared to treatment with hormone therapies alone, and is used to treat prostate cancers linked to BRCA 1 and 2 mutations.*
Clinical trials have also found that 33 per cent of men who took the drug had their tumours shrink, compared to just two per cent of men on hormone therapy alone.
About Apalutamide
Apalutamide reduces risks of death by 25 per cent compared to conventional treatment in men with non-metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer.
Non-metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer is a form of prostate cancer that has not yet spread to other parts of the body and has stopped responding to hormone therapy.
Significance of Committee recommendations
PCFA CEO, Anne Savage, commended the Committee for recommending the listing of both life-extending drugs.
“We welcome these recommendations from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee and commend its response to community calls for more affordable care for men with prostate cancer.
“We’ll be working with government and industry to ensure these essential medications are listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme as soon as possible, giving more men with the deadliest forms of prostate cancer more time with their families and a greater chance of survival.
“These are vitally important recommendations for Australian men and families facing prostate cancer, and if listed, will save men and families tens of thousands of dollars in accessing these drugs,” Savage said.
“We commend the Committee for heeding our call to give Australian men better prospects for slowing down the spread of prostate cancer and are grateful for the efforts of industry to make these life-extending drugs available to all men who need them.”
Lynparza works by blocking the proteins that fuel the growth of prostate cancer cells, and is classed within a group of precision medicines known as PARP inhibitors.
“Importantly, Lynparza is a non-invasive treatment, provided in tablet form, taken twice daily.
“Eligible patients will include men with a BRCA gene mutation whose cancers have stopped responding to conventional hormone therapy, in instances when the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body. These men represent about 10 per cent of the advanced prostate cancer population."
Apalutamide is an androgen receptor inhibitor that works by blocking the effects of androgen (a male reproductive hormone) to stop the growth and spread of cancer cells.
Apalutamide is also taken in tablet form, once a day.
“PCFA is proud to play a leading role in advocacy to enable outcomes like this for Australian men and families – making multiple submissions to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee over recent years and working with hundreds of PCFA Support Group Leaders to mobilise consumer comments,” Savage said.
“Without listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, these life-extending medications would be out of reach for hundreds of Australian men who need them. Affordable access to life-saving medicines is vital to national cancer control and helps to reduce the burden of prostate cancer on men and the community,” Savage said.
PCFA is also calling for a review of Australia’s PSA testing guidelines, which are out of date.
“We now hope to back this up with public funding for a review of the Clinical Guidelines for PSA Testing, so that all men have a fair chance of detecting prostate cancer before it spreads,” she said.
Around 18,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in Australia. Two in every three men diagnosed detect the disease after Stage 1, making it harder to treat.
3,323 Australian men will die from prostate cancer this year and thousands of men would benefit from affordable access to these medications each year if they are listed.
To find out more, call PCFA’s Specialist Telenursing Service on 1800 22 00 99 or go to www.pcfa.org.au.
ENDS
* https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1911440
