Tweet Facebook Mail A world-first cancer treatment, discovered in Melbourne, has been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). It means thousands of Australians with blood cancer will now have access to the pills, which have been slashed by thousands of dollars. Patrick Foley has been fighting an incurable blood cancer for more than 30 years.
READ MORE: The bittersweet story behind Di Morrissey's latest book A world-first cancer treatment, discovered in Melbourne, has been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). (9News) But doctors initially gave the Melbourne man only six months to live. After battling the disease for decades, it's finally at bay for the 68-year-old thanks to a world-first treatment discovered by researchers in Melbourne.
Foley was one of the first to access it as part of a clinical trial. "It's like playing a card game, where you think you've got a losing hand and you're handed a couple of cards and then all of a sudden, you've got a winning hand," Foley told 9News. Patrick Foley has been fighting an incurable blood cancer for more than 30 years but it's finally at bay for the 68-year-old thanks to a world-first treatment (9News) Two drugs, Imbruvica and Venetoclax - used individually to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma - are now being used together.
They work to block proteins and help kill the cancer cells with two tablets taken daily for 15 months. There's no need for chemotherapy, meaning less side e.