Pacific Edge are pleased to announce that two of New Zealand’s largest public healthcare providers – Counties Manukau Health and Waitematā District Health Board - are extending their commercial use of Cxbladder. Together, these two District Health Boards cover a population of more than 1.1 million people (approximately 23% of New Zealand’s population), so it's our expectation that the agreements will result in a significant increase in the number of tests performed by our New Zealand laboratory.

Counties Manukau Health

Counties Manukau Health is one of New Zealand’s largest public healthcare providers serving a population of approximately 570,000 people. It has been using Cxbladder Triage commercially since August 2018 to assess patients with blood in their urine (a key indicator of bladder cancer) to determine if they need further evaluation. Since adoption, the use of Cxbladder Triage has resulted in over half of their patients avoiding a urology specialist appointment or having to undergo an invasive and expensive cystoscopy procedure^[1].

Counties Manukau Health has now expanded its commercial use of Cxbladder to include Cxbladder Monitor, a test optimised for bladder cancer surveillance. Bladder cancer has a very high recurrence rate and people living with the disease are required to present up to four times per year for a cystoscopy to check for signs the cancer has returned. As a consequence of this intensive program of monitoring, bladder cancer carries the highest per-lifetime, per-patient cost of any cancer, with more than 60% of the total cost attributable to surveillance and recurrence. Cxbladder Monitor provides a clinically proven surveillance alternative that can help reduce the frequency of cystoscopies required in some patients.  

Waitematā District Health Board

The Waitematā District Health Board (WDHB) is New Zealand’s largest public healthcare provider serving a population of 630,000 people located on Auckland’s North Shore, Waitakere and Rodney districts^[2]. The new program agreed with Health Source New Zealand Limited (the procurement services company representing the Northern Region District Health Boards) will see WDHB roll-out the use of our Cxbladder Triage test alongside their existing usage of Cxbladder Monitor.

Under the new WDHB program, all patients with haematuria will now first receive a Cxbladder Triage test which, when combined with the patient’s imaging results, will inform the urologist as to whether further testing and invasive procedures are required. Recent published evidence showed that Cxbladder Triage successfully reduced the number of cystoscopies by more than 30%^[3]. This will mean that many patients can now be quickly and safely discharged back into the care of their GP in the community and will not require a urology specialist appointment or have to undergo an invasive and expensive cystoscopy procedure.

Dr Madhu Koya, Clinical Director of Urology at Waitematā DHB commented: “Including Cxbladder into the pathway for haematuria referrals is aimed at improving the quality of care for our patients and clients. For many patients, they will get peace of mind from knowing they don’t have bladder cancer without having to go to a hospital clinic appointment and have an invasive procedure. The added benefit is that the patients that we do see in clinic will be seen sooner, since Cxbladder Triage has already ruled-out many of the referrals. This is all about what is best for the patient.”

References: 

1. https://www.countiesmanukau.health.nz/news/bladder-cancer-pilot-producing-results

2. https://www.waitematadhb.govt.nz/about-us/about-dhbs/

3. Davidson et al, Inclusion of a molecular marker of bladder cancer in a clinical pathway for investigation of haematuria may reduce the need for cystoscopy, New Zealand Medical Journal; June 2019