Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Prostate cancer was the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Australian men in 2020, with an estimated 16,741 diagnosed with prostate cancer and 3,152 men dying of prostate cancer. I recently had the opportunity to be briefed on a very concerning issue, that being Australian men who have a higher risk of prostate cancer being denied access to a treatment known as low-dose-rate brachytherapy boost via the MBS. This is due to a decision made by MSAC in 2019 to reject the extension of the indication of this treatment on the MBS.

What's concerning to me is that not only has the treatment been available on the MBS for men with lower-risk cancer for the last 20 years but that in 2017 a world-leading clinical study, known as the ASCENDE-RT trial showed a greater than 20 per cent reduction in the cancer control. Effectively, that means prostate cancer is cured. No other clinical trial has shown such a significant patient benefit. Based on this study, the USA, Canada, the UK and leading European nations updated their clinical guidelines such that low-dose-rate brachytherapy for men with higher-risk prostate cancer is now available. For example, in the UK it's available at no cost through the NHS. The obvious question is: why are men in Australia being denied access to this treatment when other leading nations have provided public access to it for men in their countries? Why is it that men in the US, Canada, the UK and other European nations can access this treatment but only some men in Australia can access the treatment—if they can afford to pay up to $25,000 privately?

This is a serious issue, and I would ask that Minister Hunt make his own inquiries as to why Australian men with higher-risk prostate cancer are being left behind.