Ryan Grieve is undergoing an $80,000 treatment of immunotherapy funded by drug company Roche. Grieve has terminal cancer and the drugs are designed to give him more time. Photo / Mike Scott
Ryan Grieve is undergoing an $80,000 treatment of immunotherapy funded by drug company Roche. Grieve has terminal cancer and the drugs are designed to give him more time. Photo / Mike Scott
The future is a difficult concept for Ryan Grieve, whose terminal cancer diagnosis was hopefully prolonged with access to $80,000 immunotherapy treatment unfunded in New Zealand.
The 22-year-old Hamilton man has been given compassionate access by drug company Roche to two new medications designed to give him more time.
But the question of how much time is something Grieve prefers not to know.
Now, the rush home has become a fight to make the time together as comfortable and extended as possible.
But the drugs that can help, Bevacizumab and Atezolizumab, were only FDA approved in 2016 are not funded under Pharmac.
They are typically only available for $80,000.
"He [Grieve's oncologist] told us there were three treatments that were going to provide a longer quality of life, but nothing's going to cure this," Blundell says.
"Each had benefits and potential side effects, and none were funded by Pharmac. So when we left that appointment we were clear that there were potential treatments and they weren't going to be options for us."
But an application by their Hamilton oncologist to pharmaceutical company Roche was approved, and Grieve had his first round of immunotherapy medication a month ago.
"It's incredible. We just would not be able to provide treatment for him as a family," Blundell says
"We don't have $80,000. It just wouldn't have been possible. That would have been horrible. Because you want to do everything you can to keep your children as comfortable as long as possible."
Vikki Blundell said it's is "incredible" that drug company Roche have funded her son Ryan's cancer treatment. The $80,000 therapy is designed to give Ryan more time. Photo / Mike Scott
Grieve's oncologist explained to the Herald the drugs work together in different ways to slow the cancer's growth.
Atezolizumab boosts the patient's own immune system to fight the cancer.
"The medication itself doesn't directly attack the cancer. It's just a mechanism to ramp up the body's immune system," Grieve's oncologist said.
"Bevacizumab/Avastin, effectively works to affect blood vessel formation in the body.
"Cancer grows very quickly. It wants a good blood supply. So you're trying to starve the cancer of a good blood supply and you boost the immune system. Hopefully both of them work together and treat and kill the cancer."
The Hamilton oncologist said one of the major studies showing this combination of drugs was effective in treating liver cancer only came out last year.
"Unfortunately for New Zealand there is nothing that is publicly funded for liver cancer," he says.
Vikki Blundell with her son Ryan Grieve, 22, who has just been funded an $80,000 treatment of immunotherapy drugs Bevacizumab and Atezolizumab. Photo / Mike Scott
"There are clinical trials but Ryan's not a candidate for that although he's been put up before.
"All his treatments, are really very much in the non-funded setting and they range from tablet treatments to the current treatment that he is having."
Grieve will get a scan in the coming weeks for doctors to learn the efficacy of the drugs, which do not work on everyone.
Despite the family's appreciation for access to the new treatment, Blundell says administering the transfusions of the two drugs have been very trying for Grieve.
"It's supposed to take 90 minutes but for Ryan it's taken five or six hours because of the complications. He's exhausted by the end of it," Grieve said.
"It's a long time. Other people come in, have theirs and leave, and then the next person comes in the leaves and then the next person comes in and leaves and Ryan's still there.
Vikki Blundell made a marathon dash back to Hamilton from new home in Peru to be with her son Ryan Grieve, 22, who was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Photo / Mike Scott
"He has the transfusions every three weeks and he's just had the second one. So after he recovered from the first one he did feel stronger than previously.
"He's loosing weight rapidly. So he's still very sick. It's hard to say whether it's working or not."
Grieve had to stop in the middle of a treatment last week because he felt "severe pain".
A friend of Blundell's also set up a Givealittle page to assist with the family's costs of living. The Givealittle page called "Help Ryan & his family" also provides a safety net in case Grieve does not respond to this immunotherapy and they have to lookfor a new treatment.
"It's not like you're a healthy person who can do what you want. You have to do what you can based on how you're feeling with this sickness. This terminal condition," Blundell said.
Ryan Grieve, 22, at his rental house in Hamilton. He was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer in early June. Photo / Mike Scott
"He's got this cancer in his tummy. Even going over bumps in the car hurt him. So he's quite limited in what he can do. If friends come over, he's exhausted the next day.
"It may be that it's [immunotherapy] not actually working so we would be trying something else. So we don't know what we might have to pay for in the future. So knowing that money's there is a huge relief.
"There's a deep appreciation and gratitude our family is feeling for everyone who's helping and supporting. It's been amazing."
