British Columbia's cancer agency is paying for an expensive new breast cancer drug by cutting off funding for the treatment of 106 patients with other forms of the disease.

The decision was made after the province announced in July that it will cover the up to $50,000 required to treat each patient eligible for Herceptin.

The B.C. Cancer Agency had been told to take the $8 million needed to treat 160 women next year from its budget. In documents obtained by CBC News, the agency said $5.5 million will come from "efficiencies" and the rest from "two programs of lesser priority."




Those programs were scheduled to deliver treatments with less clear clinical results to 106 patients with rare cancers.

"In the circumstances of Herceptin, the data was overwhelmingly strong that it saves lives, so we regarded this as a top-priority program," said Dr. Susan O'Reilly of the cancer agency.

The patients whose programs were cancelled have the option of applying for treatment funding under compassionate grounds, the agency has said.

For some breast cancer patients, Herceptin is giving profound results. Combined with traditional chemotherapy, the drug can reduce the chance of relapse from 33 per cent to 15 per cent for an aggressive form of the disease.

Trude Huebner was one of the first patients in British Columbia to get fully funded treatment of Herceptin.

"It means I can live. I get a chance at life," she said. "Before, I wasn't thinking that way."