New Zealand Multiple Myeloma Patient Seeks CAR T-Cell Therapy in China Amid Domestic Access Gaps
核心洞察
A 56-year-old Tauranga woman with relapsed multiple myeloma (搜索) is fundraising $200,000 for CAR T-cell therapy in Shanghai after exhausting all available treatment options in New Zealand.
The patient achieved a nine-year remission following initial chemotherapy and stem cell transplant but has since relapsed twice, with two subsequent cancer drugs proving ineffective.
The Malaghan Institute (搜索) is conducting laboratory research on CAR T-cell therapy for myeloma but has no active myeloma trial, with future trials dependent on funding and experimental progress.
A Tauranga woman diagnosed with multiple myeloma (搜索) is turning to international clinical options — including a $200,000 CAR T-cell therapy journey to Shanghai — after exhausting all available treatments in New Zealand, highlighting persistent gaps in the country's access to advanced hematologic cancer therapies.
Maria Wortman-Dabrowska, now 56, received her diagnosis in 2014 at age 44 after presenting with back pain initially attributed to a dance-related injury. Blood tests revealed multiple myeloma (搜索), which was causing her bones to deteriorate. She underwent chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, after which doctors discovered a "big hole" in her right femur bone requiring surgical intervention.
"I went into complete remission, and I stayed in remission for a good nine years," Wortman-Dabrowska said.
Her disease relapsed in 2023. A second stem cell transplant led her into what she described as a "good remission," but she relapsed again. Two subsequent cancer drugs failed to control her disease, leaving her, in her words, "out of options."
Pursuing treatment beyond New Zealand's borders
With no remaining domestic therapeutic avenues, Wortman-Dabrowska is now exploring clinical trials in Australia and China. She is awaiting confirmation of acceptance into a free drug trial in Brisbane, with plans to travel in July if successful.
Simultaneously, she has been researching CAR T-cell therapy — an approach in which a patient's own T-cells are harvested and genetically modified to "recognise the cancer and fight it." She plans to travel to Shanghai for the life-prolonging treatment, which carries an estimated cost of approximately $200,000. A Givealittle fundraising page has been established to support these efforts.
If accepted into the Australian trial, the funds raised would be redirected toward flights, accommodation, living costs, and other unexpected medical needs — "and potentially still CAR T," she noted.
Wortman-Dabrowska said her diagnosis has impacted her life "pretty dramatically." Previously working as a choreographer and running a small gardening business, she now does massage therapy part-time but is currently not working to prioritize her health. She can still walk her dog and perform daily tasks — "it's just slower."
"It's a hard struggle at times and then at times it makes you really appreciate being alive," she said.
The daratumumab funding impasse
Wortman-Dabrowska expressed frustration that New Zealand is "sort of trailing behind" other countries in multiple myeloma (搜索) treatments. She would "love to be able to access" the myeloma drug daratumumab but "probably can't" due to cost. The Rotorua Daily Post has previously reported that daratumumab costs $220,000 per year.
Pharmac (搜索), New Zealand's pharmaceutical funding agency, currently has four funding applications for daratumumab on its options for investment list, including three for multiple myeloma (搜索). These represent medicines Pharmac wants to fund if budget becomes available.
Dr David Hughes, Pharmac (搜索)'s advice and assessment director, said the agency understands multiple myeloma (搜索) has a significant impact on people's lives. However, he could not say if or when a funding decision would be made, as it depends on available budget, negotiations with suppliers, and the prioritization of other medicines. Pharmac remains in regular contact with the supplier, Janssen, about the daratumumab funding applications.
CAR T-cell research landscape in New Zealand
The Malaghan Institute (搜索), a New Zealand biomedical research centre, has been running two CAR T-cell clinical trials — but both are for lymphoma patients, not myeloma.
Professor Robert Weinkove, clinical director at the institute, confirmed that laboratory research is underway on a form of CAR T-cell therapy that could be effective for myeloma. However, while the institute aspires to open a myeloma trial in the future, this remains uncertain as it depends on funding and the experimental research progressing successfully.
Weinkove highlighted the distinctive advantages of CAR T-cell therapy compared to conventional cancer treatments, noting it is typically a "one-off treatment."
"Patients' own T-cells are engineered to target and destroy a patient's own cancer cells — this minimises damage to healthy cells and can reduce the types of side effects associated with chemotherapy and radiation," Weinkove said. "For some people with blood cancers, CAR-T cell therapies can provide long-lasting protection against cancer relapse."
This durable protection arises because CAR-T cells can survive inside the body for months or years, providing ongoing "surveillance" against the cancer. Weinkove cautioned, however, that CAR T-cell therapies can have serious immune system side effects, and clinical trials and treatment programmes are designed to monitor for these.
A key objective of the institute's second lymphoma trial is to support registration of CAR T-cell therapy in New Zealand and its uptake within the public health system. "By establishing processes for assessing and delivering CAR T-cell therapies, we hope our lymphoma trials will open the door for delivery of other CAR T-cells in New Zealand," Weinkove said.
Community response
Sophie Lister, a long-time friend of Wortman-Dabrowska, has organized a multiple myeloma (搜索) awareness and fundraising event at Mount Maunganui's Leisure Island (Moturiki) on June 20 at 11am. Attendees will hold hands and form a line or circle on the beach, with the formation captured by drone footage. The event aims to raise awareness about the need for drug funding for multiple myeloma patients and is open to all.