Promising treatment gives fresh hope to patients with rare, deadly cancer [Video]

There is fresh hope for patients with a rare, deadly form of cancer most commonly found in younger adults.

Some Albertans are part of the fight for approval of a promising new treatment.

Golfing and planning visits with family and friends were not possible while Jennifer Nielsen was going through chemotherapy.

But that changed when she started a new treatment in September.

“You don’t have those up-and-down swings with this drug, which is mentally as well as physically amazing,” Nielsen said.

That drug—Pemigatinib, brand name Pemazyre—could become more widely available in Canada.

“I’m happy to see the government moving forward,” Nielsen said.

It treats cholangiocarcinoma—bile duct cancer.

The Canadian Drug Agency previously decided not to recommend Pemazyre but is reconsidering and wants to hear from patients and doctors by Dec. 13.

“It gives them hope, and that’s what they like about Pemazyre—it gives them hope,” said Brenda Clayton with Cholangio-Hepatocellular Carcinoma Canada.

Clayton’s family has been fighting for …