Terminally-ill dad wants new drug

A young Melbourne dad with less than a year to live may have to wait months before he can use a cancer drug that could give him vital extra time with his family.

Scott De Young is just 34-years-old and dying from a melanoma.

All Scott wants is to live long enough for his three young children to remember him, and he believes a new medicine, Yervoy, could help him achieve that.

"It will give me time, it will add time, because at the moment time is the one thing I don't have," he told 7News reporter Dean Felton. "I am getting down to probably my last six to eight months, and Yervoy could double that.

"It's all about spending time with my children. I want to stamp myself in their lives so they know who their dad was."

The drug Yervoy will not save him, but doctors say it could prolong his life by as much as two years.

Yervoy is already subsidised in several countries, including the UK and US.

It has shown promising results in patients where the cancer has spread and cannot be surgically removed.

Scott has stage four melanoma and the cancer has spread to his lungs and bowel.

In trials of Yervoy, 30 per cent of advanced melanoma sufferers had their life expectancy doubled.

But with the new treatment costing around $120,000, paying privately for it is beyond the family's means.

"The chance of a good response to chemo is about 10 to 15 per cent. Yervoy is working between 40 and 50 per cent - that's 40 per cent better that what I am on now," Scott said. "Chemo is not going to work for much longer."

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory (PBA) committee has already approved it for use under Australia's PBS.

But before the drug is readily available, the health department and the manufacturer have to agree on a price.

Even so, the cost to the Government will be so high, listing Yervoy on the PBS needs cabinet approval and that could take a further six months.

Scott is not sure he can wait that long.

"To me the delay isn't justified. How can you put a price on someone's life?"

For more information about Scott's cause visit the Facebook site 'Scott De Young's Fight for Yervoy'

If you would like to donate to Scott's cause you can do so via bank transfer.

Account name: Scott De Young Fundraising Appeal
BSB: 063-239
Account number: 1050 9275