Sue Boyce (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My home state of Queensland very proudly labels itself the Sunshine State, but that sunshine is in fact a two-edged sword. We are the melanoma capital of the world. More than 430,000 Australians are treated every year for skin cancers, and people who live in Queensland have the highest rates of melanoma in the world. There are more than 10,000 cases of melanoma diagnosed each year in Australia, and 25 per cent of those cases come from Queensland.

Like many of my generation, I smothered myself in coconut oil and carefully rotisseried myself on beaches in my teen years. Now, of course, many of us are paying the price. But while most cases of melanoma can be treated successfully, the disease is still responsible for more than 1,500 deaths in Australia every year. It is not just my generation that is affected by melanoma; it is often a young person's disease. It is the most common form of cancer in Australia for people aged between 15 and 44.

Early melanoma is curable but later stages are more likely to be fatal. The average survival rate for patients with advanced melanoma that has spread is just six months, with a one-year mortality rate for 75 per cent of those affected. Melanoma incidence and mortality are both increasing, and that is despite greater awareness and education about the risks of sun exposure. We need to do a better job. We will also, for some years, bear the problem of earlier bad behaviour in the sun.

Despite the prominence and severity of melanoma to everyday Australian families, there is a notable lack of support, education and advocacy to represent the primary needs of melanoma patients at a national level. That is why I want to speak about an organisation called Melanoma Patients Australia, which is responding to the unmet needs of melanoma patients and their families across Australia and working with people with melanoma overseas.

Melanoma Patients Australia's mission is to provide members with access to a community of peer support, information, inspiration and hope, and to build a national voice for melanoma patients throughout Australia. Its website contains the usual sorts of details but also information about clinical trials that are underway. They have a forum where people post stories about their experiences and about the treatment they received. The stories are encouraging, supportive and are an excellent source of information for people who want to learn about melanoma. There are quite a lot of comments on the website from people overseas seeking advice.

There are a variety of risk factors for melanoma, including family history, a previous melanoma, unusual moles, but a major cause of skin cancer is too much exposure to ultraviolent radiation. Skin can burn in as little as 15 minutes in the summer sun—something I think many Queenslanders have found out the hard way. Sunbeds are harmful. They emit UV radiation up to five times stronger than the summer midday sun. Dermatologists have stressed to me that the best anti-ageing cream available is sunscreen, that nothing ages you faster than excessive exposure to the sun. They warn that every Australian should use sunscreen every day, irrespective of how much sun exposure they expect to have.

Whilst Australia remains the melanoma capital of the world there are research developments that are bringing new hope for treatment. The first ever treatment that has been proven to prolong lives, by a few months—and I stress at this stage that the treatment only prolongs life by a few months—of some patients facing life-threatening melanoma is now approved for use in Australia. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved 'Yervoy'—its more common name is ipi, and there is a very long name associated with that, but I will stick with ipi. It is distributed in Australia by Bristol Myers Squibb Australia Ltd for the treatment of patients with inoperable or metastatic melanoma who have failed to respond to and-or are intolerant to prior therapy. It is a landmark in melanoma treatment. For the first time we now have an important tool in treating this insidious disease.

There is a lot of promising research in cancer but, of course, not all of it gets to the stage of being able to help people live longer. This was especially true of melanoma, which was one of the major cancers not to have an active therapy, until the introduction of Yervoy. It is treatment borne from a new class of antibodies that reactivate immune cells that specifically target tumours. It is a monoclonal antibody that blocks a molecule known as cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen, or CTLA-4 to you and I, Mr Deputy President. CLTA-4 plays a role in slowing down or turning off the body's immune system, affecting its ability to fight off cancerous cells. Yervoy appears to work by allowing the body's immune system to recognise, target and attack cells in melanoma tumours. As I said, these antibodies represent one of the most promising new approaches to cancer therapy, helping the body to develop its own defences with the use of this drug.

New research and therapies are bringing hope but there is a long way to go, and for people who have been diagnosed with melanoma, I certainly encourage them to look at the website of Melanoma Patients Australia and to contact the association. They do an excellent job of providing emotional support to patients, families, friends and carers through a national network of support groups.

I would like to remind all Australians, as we go into summer, that sun damage is cumulative. Spending a lot of time in the sun increases our risk of getting skin cancer. It is particularly important in Queensland where we have significant ultraviolet radiation all year round with extremes in summer, but that is not the only time when damage can be caused. Many, many Australians have quite sensibly made a lifestyle choice to move to Queensland but once they are there they need to take up the challenge of adapting to the environment.

I would like to finish my presentation by advising everyone that Melanoma Patients Australia will be hosting a symposium and expo in Brisbane on 24 November. The symposium is for patients with advanced melanoma and their carers and families to come together and receive the latest information about treatments and clinical trials from medical experts, and to hear inspirational stories from patients who have survived for more than five years, which is not a common occurrence—more than 75 per cent of patients with advanced melanoma die within one year. The symposium and expo will provide information on various programs and services, including early diagnosis programs, patient and carer support programs, government services and financial and legal services. I am pleased to say that with some sponsorship, Melanoma Patients Australia is able to provide this symposium for free. Many people with advanced melanoma experience financial hardship as wages earners either because they cannot work any longer or because they have to give up their jobs to care. We are hoping about 200 patients and their carers will attend this function.