Tweet Facebook Mail Pathologists across the country are calling for better access to blood tests to identify which patients are vulnerable to life-threatening reactions to medications such as codeine and chemotherapy. Cancer patient Jennifer Kohne wasn't able to properly metabolise her chemotherapy tablets when going through her bowel cancer treatment. The drugs sent her body into a toxic overdrive.
READ MORE: Five minutes of exercise a day is enough to lower blood pressure, study finds Cancer patient Jennifer Kohne wasn't able to properly metabolise her chemotherapy tablets when going through her bowel cancer treatment. (Nine) "I started developing severe abdominal pain, the diarrhoea was so bad, the nausea became quite bad," Kohne said. A DPYD test revealed that she had a genetic variant that caused her to react badly to the common chemotherapy medication Capecitabine.
Medical Oncologist Dr Cassandra White says Kohne isn't the only patient to have a bad reaction to chemo. "One per cent of patients die from side-effects relating to their chemotherapy, not related to their cancer," White said. The Royal College of Pathologists is calling for the test for which patients are vulnerable to life-threatening reactions to medications, called pharmacogenomic testing, to be better funded.
The college has two applications before the Medical Benefits Advisory Committee to consider rebates for two genetic tests for chemotherapy and anti-seizure medication. White said pre-exp.