In early 2022, Diane Smith from Canterbury was given just 12 months to live after being diagnosed with Stage 4 oesophageal cancer.

Despite undergoing 11 rounds of chemotherapy through the public health system, it was an unfunded immunotherapy drug - Keytruda - that turned things around. Against the odds, after over 3 years on Keytruda, Diane is now clinically symptom-free. But this life-extending treatment comes at a steep cost.

Treatments like Keytruda are not publicly funded for oesophageal cancer in New Zealand, leaving patients to fundraise or go without. 

Diane is self-funded keytruda. She has since reached the payment threshold to receive the drug for free from the pharmacuitical company MSD, but still pays the administration costs to receive her regular infusions - at around $19,000 a year.

“It’s an ongoing cost now that it’s working, and you eat through your savings. Until you were sick, New Zealanders did not understand what was publicly funded", says Diane. "And it means people are having to advocate so strongly for themselves at a time when they're unwell."

Diane has helped Gut Cancer Foundation advocate for access to drugs like Keytruda for Oesophageal Cancer and is still symptom free.

You can read Diane's RNZ article here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/497312/oncologists-pen-open-letter-to-pharmac-asking-for-more-life-saving-cancer-drugs