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Multiple myeloma: Tauranga woman fundraising for treatment in China

Twelve years ago, Tauranga dancer Maria Wortman-Dabrowska was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (blood cancer). For years, her treatments were successful. Now she has relapsed and is “out of options”. The 56-year-old is eyeing a $200,000 trip overseas for a clinical trial. Megan Wilson reports. Maria Wortman-Dabrowska says she will never forget the day in 2014 when she received an “utterly devastating” multiple myeloma diagnosis. After her GP broke the news, the Tauranga woman remembered getting blood tests and the phlebotomist asking if she was having a good day. “I just looked at her, and I just burst into tears.” Then aged 44, Wortman-Dabrowska had been experiencing back pain for two or three months. She thought a dance-related injury was behind it. Wortman-Dabrowska saw her doctor. Blood tests revealed she had multiple myeloma, which was causing her bones to deteriorate, she said. She had chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. Doctors then found a “big hole” in her right femur bone, which required surgery. “I went into complete remission, and I stayed in remission for a good nine years.” She relapsed in 2023. A second stem cell transplant led her into a “good remission”. She relapsed again and tried two cancer drugs, but neither worked. Now, she was “out of options”. “The next step is to try and get some treatment overseas.” Wortman-Dabrowska said she was looking at clinical trials in Australia and China. She was waiting to hear about being accepted for a free drug trial in Brisbane. If successful, she planned to go in July. Wortman-Dabrowska had also been researching CAR T-cell therapy, which she said involved her stem cells being harvested and genetically modified to “recognise the cancer and fight it”. She planned to go to Shanghai for the life-prolonging treatment, costing about $200,000. A Givealittle page has been set up for her. Tauranga woman Maria Wortman-Dabrowska said she can still do daily tasks, such as walking her dog. If she was accepted for the free trial in Australia, the money would go towards flights, accommodation, living costs, other unexpected medical needs “and potentially still CAR T”, she said. Wortman-Dabrowska said her diagnosis had impacted her life “pretty dramatically”. Her previous work included choreographing as well as running a small gardening business. Now, she did massage therapy part-time but was currently not working, to prioritise her health. She could still walk her dog and do other daily tasks, “it’s just slower”. “It’s a hard struggle at times and then at times it makes you really appreciate being alive.” Wortman-Dabrowska said she believed New Zealand was “sort of trailing behind” other countries for multiple myeloma treatments. She would “love to be able to access” the myeloma treatment drug daratumumab but “probably can’t” due to the cost. The Rotorua Daily Post has previously reported daratumumab costs $220,000 a year. Sophie Lister, Wortman-Dabrowska‘s long-time friend, has organised a multiple myeloma awareness and fundraising event at Mount Maunganui’s Leisure Island (Moturiki) on June 20 at 11am. Lister said attendees would hold hands and form a line or circle on the beach. The formation would be captured by drone footage. She hoped to raise awareness about the need for drug funding for multiple myeloma patients. All were welcome at the family-friendly event. CAR T-cell clinical trials in New Zealand The Malaghan Institute, a New Zealand biomedical research centre, has been running two CAR T-cell clinical trials for lymphoma patients. Clinical director Professor Robert Weinkove said the institute had been doing laboratory research on a form of CAR T-cell therapy that could be effective for myeloma. Although it aspired to open a myeloma trial in the future, this was uncertain as it de...