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ancer counselor Dr. Sasanto, 71, was shocked when another doctor unexpectedly found a lymphoma during a minor surgery on his stomach.

The psychiatrist at Jakarta's Dharmais Cancer Hospital said he was accustomed to taking care of cancer patients, but having to deal with his own cancer turned out to be a different thing.

"I kept thinking how expensive and lengthy the medication would be. How it would be a financial burden since I was the backbone of the family," he said on the sidelines of a seminar on oncology over the weekend.

Sasanto is one of 103 patients with cancer who joined state-owned health insurance company PT Askes and has had targeted therapy since mid-2008.

The therapy focused on halting the growth of cancer cells by preventing a certain molecule that takes part in the process of carcinogenesis, in which a normal cell turns into a cancer cell.

Sasanto said he was relieved to learn he could use his PT Askes account, which greatly eased his financial stress because it covered many expensive medicines during his therapy.

He said he went through seven of supposedly eight possible chemotherapy programs and was declared as having recovered from his lymphoma after six months of medication.

"I managed the effects of the therapy just fine. I had some hair loss but it regrew after the chemo.

"I only had to rest for a few days in the hospital when my white blood levels dropped."

I Gede Subawa, president director of PT Askes, said the insurance company had covered expensive essential drugs, including rituximab, trastuzumab and bevacizumab, which were needed during the therapy.

Mark Hertzberg, an oncology expert from Westmead Hospital at the University of Sydney, said the drugs, including bevacizumab, could improve the survival and the quality of life for patients suffering breast cancer.

PT Askes has cooperated with PT Roche Indonesia, a Swiss-based pharmaceutical company, to provide the drugs for cancer treatment since 2004.

Subawa said although all patients with cancer who are insured in the company had access to targeted therapy, they needed to go through several processes to be entitled for the program.

"They need to have a preliminary health examination first, like the laboratory check-up."

"It's important because we have to know whether the patients' condition can fit with the therapy."