Taxotere listed on PBS

Prostate cancer chemotherapy drug Taxotere is now available at a subsidised price for men in advanced stages of prostate cancer. Health Miniter, Tony Abbott made the announcement on Fathers day that the drug would be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Sceme. This means that more patients will have access to the drug which costs $2,700 per cycle and requires 8 to 10 cycles. Up to 2000 men per year are expected to benefit. The drug controls prostate cancer which has reached the bones and can extend life by several months. Previously, the drug had been available only to women with breast and ovarian cancer.

Andrew Giles, CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia which has campaigned for the listing said yesterday: "This is wonderful news – especially for all of us who have fought so hard over the past two years to get Taxotere listed...A few weeks ago the idea that we could announce this on Father’s Day was a far fetched idea. Thanks to some dogged persistence by those within the PCFA the best outcome has been achieved. The national media campaign, which started tonight, will inform people about Taxotere. It will also go a long way in educating people on the issue of prostate cancer."

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