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PBS approval for T-Cell lymphoma patients

The cost of medicines to treat diabetes, cancer, arthritis, asthma and eye disease will be slashed from 1 April 2018 under a massive new round of Turnbull government subsidies.

The government will list a range of new medicines to treat cancer,
including pralatrexate – known as Folotyn – which will provide a new treatment option for T-Cell lymphoma, helping about 440 patients each year.

This is one of 11 drugs added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) on April 1, saving Australian patients thousands of dollars, Health Minister Greg Hunt says.

Read more about the PBS listings here: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/diabetes-cancer-and-arthritis-sufferers-to-benefit-from-new-subsidies-20180325-p4z648.html

 

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General Enquiries

Please note: Lymphoma Australia staff are only able to reply to emails sent in English language.

For people living in Australia, we can offer a phone translation service. Have your nurse or English speaking relative call us to arrange this.

Useful Definitions

  • Refractory: This means the lymphoma does not get better with treatment. The treatment didn’t work as hoped.
  • Relapsed: This means the lymphoma came back after being gone for a while after treatment.
  • 2nd line treatment: This is the second treatment you get if the first one didn’t work (refractory) or if the lymphoma comes back (relapse).
  • 3rd line treatment: This is the third treatment you get if the second one didn’t work or the lymphoma comes back again.
  • Approved: Available in Australia and listed by the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA).
  • Funded: Costs are covered for Australian citizens. This means if you have a Medicare card, you shouldn’t have to pay for the treatment.[WO7]

You need healthy T-cells to make CAR T-cells. For this reason, CAR T-cell therapy cannot be used if you have a T-cell lymphoma – yet.

For more information on CAR T-cells and T-cell lymphoma click here. 

Special Note: Although your T-cells are removed from your blood for CAR T-cell therapy, most of our T-cells live outside of our blood – in our lymph nodes, thymus, spleen and other organs.