Support Swift Access to Selpercatinib for Australians with Medullary Thyroid Cancer

Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a rare, aggressive form of thyroid cancer that does not respond to chemotherapy and often progresses despite standard treatment. For many patients, surgery alone is not enough. In recent years, targeted therapies have transformed outcomes overseas—offering hope where none previously existed.

One of the most promising treatments is selpercatinib, a targeted RET inhibitor that has demonstrated remarkable effectiveness in shrinking tumors and slowing disease progression in patients with RET‑mutant MTC. Clinical studies worldwide have shown that selpercatinib can significantly improve both survival and quality of life.

Although selpercatinib is already approved in Australia for certain lung cancers, it is still not accessible for thyroid cancer patients who urgently need it. Other countries have recognized its value and made it available for MTC, yet Australians continue to face unnecessary barriers—financial, medical, and emotional.

Patients have been told varying prices from $8000-18000 per month. These amounts are unachievable.

Expanding the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to include selpercatinib for MTC would:

Provide equitable access to a life‑changing therapy

Reduce the crushing financial burden on families

Align Australia with global best‑practice cancer care

Offer real hope to patients with advanced or metastatic disease

Australia prides itself on universal healthcare and compassionate, patient‑centred policy. But right now, Australians with MTC—especially those with Stage 4 disease—are being left behind. They cannot afford to wait months or years for bureaucratic processes while their condition worsens.

We are calling on the Australian Parliament to act swiftly and prioritize PBS listing for selpercatinib for medullary thyroid cancer. Every delay costs precious time for patients who have already exhausted standard treatment options.

Your signature can help bring national attention to this urgent issue and push for the change that MTC patients desperately need.

Please sign the petition and stand with those fighting this relentless disease.