[앵커]
Breast cancer accounts for the largest proportion of cancers suffered by domestic women.
Recently, a new classification system for types of breast cancer and appropriate treatments have been confirmed, raising patient expectations.
It is not yet covered by insurance, so the cost burden is high.
Reporter Kim Joo-young reports.
[기자]
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Korea, with one in five female cancer patients having breast cancer.
There are several classification methods for breast cancer, the most representative one being classification based on whether the cancer cells contain a gene called HER2.
In the past, if there were a lot of lost genes, they were classified as positive, if there were many, they were classified as negative, and if they did not meet a certain standard, they were called ‘low expression’ and treated like negative patients.
[김지연 / 삼성서울병원 혈액종양내과 교수 : 허투 저발현이 있다 하더라도 허투는 치료의 대상이 되지 않고 호르몬 수용체 양성 유방암 혹은 삼중음성 유방암으로 나뉘어서 치료를 받았습니다.]
However, it was recently found that a treatment developed for positive patients was highly effective in low-risk patients.
Mr. Moon, in his 50s, whose breast cancer started and metastasized to the stomach, was also classified as a low-incidence patient, so he changed his treatment method and is seeing results.
[문모씨 / 허투 저발현 유방암 환자 : 저 지금 컨디션은 너무 좋아요. 운동도 매일 산에 다니고….]
In fact, research results showed that when the treatment was used on patients with low expression of the disease, the ‘progression-free survival’, in which the patient survived without the disease progressing, reached 10 months.
The expected effect is even greater given that half of all breast cancer patients are estimated to have low expression.
The problem is the burdensome cost.
Since insurance coverage is not applicable to patients with low incidence, the cost of the drug alone is close to 50 million won per year.
[문모씨 / 허투 저발현 유방암 환자 : 50대가 원래 경제 활동을 가장 활발하게 해야 할 때인데 경제 활동도 못하는 데다가 치료비가 정말 3주에 한 번씩 카드 결제로….]
More than 50,000 people have agreed to a petition to the National Assembly requesting that the drug be covered even for low-incidence patients, and it is about to be discussed by a standing committee of the National Assembly.
However, it is unclear when the government’s final decision on benefits will be possible.
This is Kim Joo-young of YTN.
YTN Kim Joo-young (kimjy0810@ytn.co.kr)
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