Some breast cancer patients are having to pay tens of thousands of euros out of their own pocket for a powerful drug or skip the treatment altogether because they can’t afford it, after the government ended its financial support.

NGOs have alerted the authorities to the lack of local access to the drug, warning that those unable to afford the treatment are risking premature death.

Pembrolizumab, authorised for use by the European Medicines Agency and available on national health systems throughout the EU, is used to treat various cancers, including skin and lung.

It is deemed by experts as a breakthrough in the treatment of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), giving new hope to patients.

TNBC is the most aggressive form of breast cancer, with patients usually treated through chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy.

Pembrolizumab is the only treatment that further reduces chances of recurrence by 40 per cent. The drug is available in Malta but one full course of it, in line with EMA recommendations, can cost up to €120,000, industry experts have told Times of Malta.

Some patients said that at the moment, neither the government nor the Malta Community Chest Fund foundation are financially supporting patients.

'Government stopped financial support mid-2021'

In October, Europa Donna Malta and Action for Breast Cancer Foundation wrote to the Health Ministry to voice their serious concern at the situation.

According to patients and the two NGOs, the government stopped its financial support in mid-2021. The support used to be given through the Chest Fund foundation for new patients prescribed this drug.

Europa Donna Malta and Action for Breast Cancer noted that Pembrolizumab had become a new standard of care in the treatment of TNBC, which is diagnosed in around 30 patients in Malta every year.

They said the treatment is available on the national public health service systems in all European countries but Malta remains an exception.

They were aware that the government had “a very advantageous offer” from the mother company but this has been left pending, they added.

Patients are now having to fork out the money for their treatment, while those who can’t afford it have to go without, impacting their prognosis, they told the authorities.

Questions have been sent to the Health Ministry.