One of New Zealand’s most esteemed medical professionals has died, leaving a deep legacy including the diagnosis and care of people who suffered a cancer that he too endured.
In 2011, he was given just a few months to live. But for 13 years, Associate Professor Dr Malcolm Legget lived with neuroendocrine cancer (NET), using his personal battle and experience to help others with the disease.
One of New Zealand’s most esteemed medical professionals and specialist cardiologists, Legget led a determined campaign to ensure patients could access the best treatment for NET, a cancer that develops in specialised neuroendocrine cells.
It is a reasonably rare cancer but cases are growing – almost 400 patients are diagnosed in New Zealand each year.
Legget, who was 62, died on November 1, leaving a lasting legacy for New Zealanders being treated for NET.
After his diagnosis in 2011, and as he adjusted to living with his prognosis, Legget became committed to improving research and access to state-of-the-art diagnoses and treatment for Kiwi patients. Initially, he was given only months to live but, by funding his way to Australia, he was able to receive specialist scans and treatment.
He realised other New Zealanders deserved access to the same treatment, no matter their circumstances.
He introduced a local research programme, bringing together some of the world’s top specialists in Auckland.
In 2015, he and 30 others rode bikes from Cape Reinga to Wellington, helping to raise $400,000 for a specialist scanner for the diagnosis and treatment of neuroendocrine and prostate tumours.
Dr Malcolm Legget embarked on several long-distance fundraising bike rides. He is pictured here in 2015, ahead of his Cape Reinga-Wellington ride. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The scans identify if an NET patient is a suitable candidate for a life-extending treatment called peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT).
In later years, Legget helped to lead the charge to secure publicly funded PRRT for all New Zealanders. In 2021, the Government launched a permanent PRRT service in Auckland. More than 100 patients have so far accessed PRRT.
Friends, family and colleagues describe Legget variously as a “selfless hero” and “a leading and groundbreaking clinician”.
He was “no ordinary New Zealander, with a professional lifetime of dedication across various medical disciplines to ensure that all New Zealanders receive the best medical care, no matter their means”, said one.
His bedside manner with patients was legendary among those who worked with him: insightful, kind and always pleased to pass on his expertise and experience to medical students.
Notably, he devoted his career to the advancement of cardiology research and treatment, having trained at Green Lane Hospital and at the University of Washington in Seattle.
He was a co-founder of the leading private cardiology company The Heart Group in 1987. It now has more than 35 cardiologists, with care that extends through New Zealand and the Pacific.
He was a consultant at Green Lane and Auckland City Hospitals from 1995 to 2019 and completed his Doctor of Medicine degree in 2008 on the subject of three-dimensional echocardiography. He had sub-speciality expertise in cardiac imaging.
A longstanding board member of the Heart Foundation, he also worked tirelessly at Auckland University and had a rich research background, including time at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He authored or co-authored more than 175 papers.
Another leading cardiologist, Dr Ivor Gerber, said New Zealand had many medical professionals worthy of high praise, “but there will not be any other who has made such a positive lasting impact on so many people across so many disciplines, all while battling a life-threatening medical illness”.
Professor Mark Richards, the Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiovascular Studies at the Christchurch Heart Institute, said: “Malcolm came to represent constructive courage and fortitude in the face of extreme adversity. He made every day count and converted his problem into working towards solutions for others. Furthermore, that he did this for more than a decade speaks to extraordinary perseverance. He will be missed.”
Legget was a fellow of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a fellow of the Australasian College of Physicians.
In 2015, he was a finalist for Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year.
He is survived by his wife Carrie, children George, Harry and Emelia and his sister Jane. A funeral service and celebration of Legget’s life will be held at Holy Trinity Cathedral, 446 Parnell Rd, on Tuesday, November 12, at 10am. A wake will be held at the Northern Club, 19 Princes St, at 1.30pm. – NZ Herald staff writer
