Cancer patient frustrated by conflicting information

Breast cancer patient Aletia Hudson is saving to buy the drug Herceptin. Picture / Dean Purcell

Aletia Hudson, whose left breast was removed early this year because of a malignant tumour, says she is frustrated at the conflicting information she has heard.

The 33-year-old is saving for Herceptin to prevent a recurrence of the tumour and her oncologist has told her she will be an ideal candidate. "He's the specialist. He knows what he's talking about and I don't really understand the politics around it."

She wonders at the view taken by Pharmac's Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee that Herceptin should be used only as a clinical trial.

"Does this mean I'm an experiment? I've heard really conflicting ideas and that's frustrating. The process [of approving the drug] doesn't bother me, because I understand process. But what's frustrating is that it feels people aren't being honest about it or where they are at." She says she has seen the English and US research at a breast cancer forum, and none has mentioned safety risks. "Besides, I'm on chemotherapy ... and that has got far more effects than those they're claiming Herceptin has."

Ms Hudson has had chemotherapy privately, because the private provider uses two drugs instead of one used in public hospitals.