
Six months after publicly revealing his 鈥渋ncurable鈥 cancer diagnosis to the nation, Nigel Latta has said he鈥檚 responded well to cancer treatment and is no longer terminally ill. What exactly are the drugs that Latta says helped save his life?
New Zealand psychologist and TV personality Nigel Latta has lifted the lid on which cancer 鈥渨onder drugs鈥 helped him in his fight against 鈥渋ncurable鈥 stomach cancer.
In September 2024, Latta shared a video on social media revealing doctors had discovered an 鈥渋noperable鈥 tumour in his stomach, explaining how he reacted and came to terms with the sobering news.
But despite doctors giving Latta a prognosis of between six and 12 months at the time, the 57-year-old author and broadcaster took to Facebook on March 16 to share some 鈥渇undamentally very, very good news鈥.
Recording a video message for followers, Latta said he鈥檇 鈥渞esponded very well鈥 to chemotherapy treatment and hasn鈥檛 been affected 鈥渁s badly as some people鈥.
鈥淚 can take a whole bunch of wonder drugs and the wonder drugs are working,鈥 Latta said in the video, adding that chemotherapy helped his stomach tumour disappear and that he is able to continue taking the cancer drugs permanently.
Latta did not disclose what drugs were prescribed to him in the video.
鈥淔or me, I鈥檓 that guy who got given the terrible prognosis but I鈥檓 going to be around for a long time,鈥 he said. 鈥淢y horizon now is years, and years in the future because it is all looking very well.鈥
Latta has since told the Herald that the 鈥渨onder drugs鈥 he attributes to his miraculous recovery are Folfiri (5-FU + leucovorin + irinotecan) and ramucirumab.
While Folfiri is a publicly funded chemotherapy treatment in New Zealand, ramucirumab 鈥 a monoclonal antibody medication 鈥 is not.
Latta said he knows all too well about the problems plaguing cancer drug funding in New Zealand, making particular note of the inequities many Kiwis face in access to potentially lifesaving treatment.
鈥淪ome of these [treatments] are like $6000 every two weeks,鈥 Latta told the Herald. 鈥淭here are lots of people where there are drugs there that can help them, but they just can鈥檛 take them鈥.
Nigel Latta says he is now cancer-free after responding "very well" to treatment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of money,鈥 Latta added, drawing comparisons with his own experience recently undergoing radiotherapy.
鈥淚 had radiotherapy with a thing called Sabr 2, which I can get because I have health insurance, but for people that are in the public system, they can鈥檛 even get access,鈥 Latta said.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e in the private system, you get this incredibly targeted radiotherapy tool which ... can literally just black the tumour and nothing else.
鈥淏ut if you鈥檙e in the public system, you still get radiotherapy, but it鈥檚 bigger, broader, does more damage, has more risk.
鈥淚t鈥檚 s****y, it鈥檚 really s****y.鈥
Latta called for redress to how New Zealand approaches treating cancer and drug access.
Ramucirumab is not included on the list of cancer drugs the coalition Government promised to fund in June 2024 as part of the fulfilment of a National Party pre-election promise.
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