At 35 years old, Kathryn Berecic is blunt about her situation.
“I’m fighting the hardest fight of my life – a very rare, stage 4 appendix cancer that will soon kill me if I don’t take immediate and drastic action,” she said.
The Berwick woman’s cancer was discovered by chance following what was thought to be appendicitis.
Since then, she’s had multiple lengthy surgeries, including heated chemotherapy poured directly into her abdomen, and had well over 100 rounds of chemotherapy. Kat has also travelled to Japan for adoptive cell therapy, which kept her cancer stable for about two years.
But in the second half of last year, Kat’s cancer began spreading again, which required her to have another 12-hour surgery in January.
“While it wasn’t as successful as my previous surgeries due to some hard-to-reach tumours, I had a truly extraordinary recovery,” she said.
“To the shock of my treating doctors, I achieved my impossible goal of leaving hospital within a week and have come to realise that my will to fight and live has given me a type of strength that allows my body to withstand the most torturous of situations.”
Kat’s now set another seemingly impossible goal, to raise $250,000 towards further treatment in the US and Germany as her cancer continues to progress.
Kat, in consultation with doctors and researchers all over the world, have developed a plan that could add years to her life, combining three therapies.
She’s currently self-funding immunotherapy, which costs her $3,000 every three weeks. Unbelievably, this treatment is available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for many common cancers, but not for Kat’s rare type of cancer. It’s hoped this treatment will slow Kat’s cancer’s progression while she raises the funds needed for her next steps.
The first of the three therapies is Histrotripsy; an ultrasound-based therapy that creates microbubbles that can break tumour cells apart and was approved by the FDA in the US in 2023. Kat has found a doctor in the US who is confident he can eradicate the dangerous and stubborn liver tumour encircling her arteries.
The second is called TACE; a targeted treatment delivering chemotherapy directly into a tumour. While a much less-advanced version exists in Australia, Kat’s doctors here have strongly suggested she pursue Professor Vogl’s protocol in Germany, which could completely clear the remaining tumours in her liver.
Finally, dendritic cell therapy has improved since Kat’s treatment in Japan. Some doctors are using tumour tissue directly from the body to train dendritic cells in what to search for when they’re reintroduced to the body. This treatment has had remarkable response rates in the US and could be the key to halting Kat’s cancer.
“My life has well and truly been extended thanks to the generous donations I’ve received in the past, and there are no words to describe my immense gratitude for that,” Kat said.
“But I’m asking now with all the hope in my heart that people hear my story, believe my life is worth saving, and help me achieve the seemingly impossible mission of raising $250,000.
“Your kindness could grant me more time, more memories, and maybe even a miracle.”
Tax-deductible donations to support Kat can be made via Rare Cancers Australia.
Media contact:
Laura Cohalan, Communications Specialist
[email protected] | 0437 927 292