Latest fromCancer - The cost of a life

Graeme Woodside: Prostate cancer - too many men diagnosed late
Prostate Cancer is the number one cancer among NZ men, but sadly, too few men really take seriously the relatively high chance of developing this disease.

Victims lobby for 'breakthrough' drug
New melanoma treatment Keytruda has Government marketing nod but it is yet to get funding.

How far would you go for cancer treatment?
A Kiwi breast cancer patient shares her story of travelling as far as Germany in order to receive lifesaving treatment.

Melanoma NZ: Access to effective therapies vital
COMMENT: Melanoma incidence and death rates remain a serious health issue in New Zealand.

Drug lets grandpa tick off bucket list
More than a year after he stopped taking a "game-changer" medicine for advanced melanoma, Bob Hill feels so good he is preparing for a half-marathon.

Patient: System sends have-nots home to die
Melanoma patient Leisa Renwick is appalled that New Zealand has developed separate health systems for those who can afford treatments and those who can't.

Cancer - the cost of a life: Lung cancer treatment 'frustrating'
Stigma of smoking contributes to the poor-relation status of disease.

The Cost of a Life: Leisa's story
Leisa Renwick, who has melanoma, tells of how she is raising money to pay for necessary medicine.

Chris Atkinson: Lung cancer lacks profile of other cancers
Lung cancer also occurs in non-smokers who then also suffer the stigma that "they must have brought the cancer on themselves", writes Chris Atkinson.

Foundation to fight for lung cancer
No charities specifically focus on lung cancer. But that is set to change from today with the launch of the Lung Foundation.

The Cost of a life: Richard’s story
Richard Boughtwood, who has lung cancer, tells of how life is looking more hopeful since he started taking a new medicine on a clinical trial

Bowel cancer: Early checks can save lives
Early detection can boost your odds against bowel cancer but NZ's short supply of diagnostic firepower may be frustrating Kiwis' efforts to help themselves.

Mary Bradley: The health crisis that receives too little attention
Four times as many New Zealanders are killed by bowel cancer every year - 1,200 - than die on our roads, writes Mary Bradley.

Family keeps father battling
Adam Kelliher glances at the pictures of his children taped to his work computer screen as he describes how he has struggled against the tumours slowly growing within him.

Cancer survivor thanks wife for pressure to go private
Ivan Burrowes has his wife Sue to thank for making him go private for a cancer check when his local public hospital said he would have to wait two years longer than usual.

The Cost of a life: Adam’s story
Adam Kelliher tells of his struggle to survive bowel cancer

'I don't want to die unnecessarily early'
Tracey Eising fears the latest surge of her breast cancer will overcome her, unless a sea of cash can be found to pay for a new medicine.

Cancer: Are poor being sent home to die?
The number of Kiwis with cancer is rising - as is the number of desperate patients who have resorted to asking strangers to help pay for expensive treatments.

Breast cancer risks high for NZ women
New Zealand's breast cancer death rate dropped by 20 per cent in the decade after the start of the national breast screening programme.

Death toll could be 700 lower – cancer chief
Hear John Loof, of the Cancer Society, explain that 700 fewer people would die of cancer each year in New Zealand if our cancer death rate was the same as Australia’s.

The Cost of a Life: Tracey’s journey
We sit down with Tracey Eising who tells of the breast cancer that has been with her for nine years and how without state funding she can’t afford the one remaining medicines that could help her once her current drugs fail.

The Cost of a Life: Tom's story
Tom McGrath talks about being diagnosed with prostate cancer.