Stu Lye with hospital staff in China where he underwent CAR T-cell therapy. Photo: SUPPLIED
A former top cop has joined a number of Kiwi blood cancer patients seeking cutting edge therapy overseas, as wait times grow for standard stem cell treatment in New Zealand.
Stu Lye travelled to China in May 2025 to undergo CAR T-cell therapy, where the patient's T cells are collected, genetically modified to attack their cancer cells and then transplanted back into the body.
He told Checkpoint he knew of four other New Zealand patients in China at the moment.
"Two have just finished their treatment and due to come home, and they've had a similar result to me (where) they're in complete remission. The other two are currently being treated."
This week the Minister of Health Simeon Brown acknowledged the delay in getting standard stem cell treatments - also known as bone marrow transplants - at New Zealand's three transplant centres had meant some patients ended up in palliative care.
"This is deeply concerning for me, and I understand how stressful this is for patients and their families."
Brown said Health New Zealand was spending an extra $6 million to increase access and he expected them to "act with urgency".
Lye, a former police officer of the year, was diagnosed with a high-risk form of myeloma in 2018 and underwent three stem cell treatments in New Zealand. He then used his KiwiSaver money to pay for drugs that were not funded by Pharmac at the time.
When he relapsed this year, the only option was cutting edge CAR T-cell therapy.
"[In] Australia or the US you're looking at close to $1 million while in China it was more like $150,000, so that was the preferred option for me. Although we didn't have $150,000, so we had to fundraise."
His story - and those of other Kiwi blood cancer patients who have had to self-fund the drug daratumumab or leave the country to get it - highlighted treatment gaps that National committed to address.
On the campaign trail blood cancer patients were promised they would not be forgotten, with leader Christopher Luxon saying: "We want Kiwis to have access to better treatments here at home to give more of them the chance to beat cancer and get back to their normal lives."
While New Zealand patients face longer waits for standard treatment that can mean they are beyond a cure, some advanced treatments are not even available in Aotearoa.
Lye's fly-in-fly-out treatment in China was done at Renji Hospital in Shanghai and he planned ahead by contacting a professor of haematology and keeping in touch.
"He said when you relapse come on over," Lye told Checkpoint. "Within 10 days I was in a hospital bed in Renji Hospital and we were there for seven weeks, five of which I was in hospital. It was wonderful. I had a dual CAR T that has put me in complete remission. I've come back to New Zealand and looking to go back to work."
Lye called for New Zealand to collaborate with other countries to access treatment.
"I don't think New Zealand can keep pace with places like China because their level of investment and research is way beyond what we ever could dream of. I feel we have to collaborate with places like China so we can use their technology without us having to learn that technology ourselves. That's probably the only way forward."
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