Cancer patients wins drugs appeal

The drug is available on clinical trial in parts of the UK

A renal cancer sufferer whose health trust refused him a drug on cost grounds has won his appeal to get the medication paid for by the NHS.

Stephen Dallison, 33, of Oxford, had a kidney removed earlier this year, but the disease spread to his lymph glands.

He was told he had a year to live but the life-prolonging drug Sutent was too expensive and not approved.

But health officials reviewed the decision and Mr Dallison will now be prescribed the £2,600-a-month drug.

No children

He will initially be given three cycles of the drug then he will be assessed to see how he responds.

Mr Dallison, a doctor of physics, said the drug Sunitinib, marketed as Sutent, was suggested by his oncologist at Churchill Hospital, part of Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust.

But the trust had said it did not routinely fund the drug for renal cancer patients and although it is used in countries such as France, Spain, Germany and the US, it has not been approved by National Institute of Clinical Excellence (Nice), the UK's medicines advisory body.

Mr Dallison previously said he thought the refusal had been influenced by the fact that he was single and did not have any children.

He said he was delighted with the new decision and told BBC News: "It should hopefully reduce the size of the tumours and stop them growing.

"Nobody knows how long it's going to keep them stable, but hopefully for a very long time."