Katikati cancer dad Roy Nugters Keytruda journey paused after brain tumour found [Video]

A Katikati father’s incredible journey with the “miracle drug” Keytruda has stalled after doctors discovered he had another tumour.

But Roy Nugter remains positive.

“It’s not a problem. It’s just slowing things down a bit,” he said.

Nugter, 60, has been battling a rare cancer since 2018.

The Katikati man was diagnosed with Stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma of the lungs, aged 55. It’s a rare cancer that spread to other parts of his body, creating tumours in his brain, and near his spinal cord and trachea.

Doctors initially gave him less than a year, without treatment, to live, or one to three years with chemotherapy.

When the chemotherapy finally stopped working, Roy and his family set out to try “miracle” drug Keytruda, but found its $100,000 price tag for a full course out of reach.

Pharmac funds Keytruda – a medicine that uses a person’s immune system to detect and destroy cancer cells – for some cancers, within certain eligibility criteria. Some skin and …