Two courageous women in Waikato are currently turning distressing breast cancer experiences into something positive and beneficial for others who may follow them on a similar journey.
During 2011 BCAC reported on a research study underway through the University of Auckland designed to look at the psychological impact of fears about cancer recurrence in women who’ve been treated for breast cancer.
1 March 2012
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) expressed some disappointment today at the decision by PHARMAC to fund lapatinib (Tykerb) as an alternative to Herceptin for advanced HER2 positive breast cancer for use as a “first-line” metastatic treatment.
Following our feature article about new BCAC member group, Shocking Pink, a group providing information for young women with breast cancer, BCAC committee member, Gillian Wintrup, shares her story. She was just 35 when diagnosed with breast cancer.
BCAC welcomes new figures released by the Government last week (February 10, 2012) that show nearly 40,000 more women aged 50 to 69 have taken part in the Government’s free breast cancer screening programme in the 24 months to October 2011 than in the previous two years.
A total of 344,268 women participated in breast screening through BreastScreen Aotearoa in the two years ending in October 2011, compared with 305,839 women between 2007 and 2009.
Shocking Pink is a new New Zealand charity dedicated to supporting young women (aged 20-45) through their journey of breast cancer (and out the other side!) and is one of BCAC’s newest member groups.
New Zealanders have a good understanding of ‘breast cancer’ thanks to a wealth of information and publicity, but when prefaced by the word ‘secondary’, misunderstanding and fear arise accompanied by hushed comments like ‘terminal’ and ‘lost the battle’.
The Government announced last week (Jan. 18, 2012) that medical oncology would be added to the cancer waiting time targets from the middle of this year. This means all patients who need chemotherapy treatment should receive treatment within the international gold standard of four weeks.
This announcement came as part of an update to the Government’s six national health targets.
Significant research results announced during the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) (December 2011) showed that adding a new targeted medicine, pertuzumab, to a combination of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and docetaxel chemotherapy extended progression-free survival by a median of 6.1 months in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer compared with patients who received the combination therapy with placebo.
Sweet Louise is the operational arm of the Louise Perkins Foundation, a charitable trust launched in October 2006 with the vision of ‘positive lives with breast cancer’. Sweet Louise’s unique mission is to help improve the quality of life and well-being of women and men living with metastatic (also known as secondary or advanced) breast cancer.
