Clinicians will be able to prescribe pembrolizumab, known by the brand name Keytruda, for several new forms of advanced cancer under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from Tuesday.
The drug, already subsidised to treat more than a dozen cancers, will now be available to those diagnosed with advanced bile duct cancer, ovarian cancer and Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare form of skin cancer, as part of the federal government's discounted medicines scheme.
The change is expected to benefit about 700 Australians a year, who would be required to pay $14,800 per script without the expanded listing.
General patients with a Medicare card pay a maximum of $25 per prescription for drugs listed under the scheme, while Commonwealth concession card holders pay a maximum of $7.70.
Pembrolizumab has been listed in combination with enfortumab vedotin, sold as Padcev, for use in the treatment of patients with stage three or four bladder and urinary tract cancer.
The more than 490 Australians expected to benefit from the new listing would otherwise have had to pay as much as $4800 per script.
The federal government previously expanded the scope of Keytruda in March, listing it on the scheme for use in treating high-risk, locally-advanced cervical cancer, renal cell carcinoma in high-risk patients, and locally-advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
"This expanded PBS listing of Keytruda to cover multiple cancers will mean thousands more Australian patients can get the treatment they need faster and at an affordable price," Health Minister Mark Butler said.
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Epworth Healthcare medical oncologist Sumitra Ananda said the expanded listing was an important moment that afforded doctors the discretion to make evidence-based treatment decisions.
"Today's announcement will help make this immunotherapy treatment option more affordable and potentially remove the financial burden that patients with advanced or metastatic cancer may face," Associate Professor Ananda said.
Those patients include Gold Coast resident Steve Holmes, who was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of bile duct cancer, in 2016 - two years after his brother Graeme died from the same cancer.
The only treatment option presented to Mr Holmes at the time was surgery.
While it was successful, he suffered a ruptured artery a month later, and a further blow five months later when he learned the cancer had returned aggressively, spreading through his liver and lungs.
Faced with a prognosis of just a few weeks, oncologist Matthew Burge established Mr Holmes would be a good candidate for an international trial involving Keytruda.
Fortunately, the trial was a success.
"I was essentially on my last legs, but three days after my first infusion I was able to sit up and was suddenly breathing without pain," Mr Holmes said.
"Nine weeks later, Dr Burge held up my scan and said, 'you don't have any tumours or evidence of cancer - go out and do something special with the opportunity you've just been given'."
Mr Holmes and his wife Claire have since established Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Australia, working with thousands of Australians affected by bile duct cancer to help them better understand the disease.
"I feel like I have a second chance at life and need to make the most of it," he said.
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