Health Editor Barry Nelson looks at the debate over frontline cancer treatments and how The Northern Echo has led the fight for patients

NEWSPAPER readers can be forgiven for feeling a little cynical when they read yet another curefor- cancer story.

But the prospects for many cancer sufferers is genuinely being transformed in the first decade of the 21st Century by a host of drugs coming on to the market.

While this is good news by any standards, the cost and sheer volume of new drugs being licensed in the UK is putting strains on the system.

This might be a headache for the Government, but it is even more of a problem for cancer patients who may only have months to live.

Imagine reading about a new drug that could give you an extra few months of life and transform the quality of the time you have left with your family and friends.

Then imagine being told by your cancer specialist that the NHS is refusing to pay for that drug, despite a host of reports proving how well it works.

Again and again this year - as part of our End NHS Injustice campaign - The Northern Echo has highlighted the plight of cancer patients across the North- East and North Yorkshire who have had the tantalising prospect of a revolutionary new drug dangled before them - only to have their hopes dashed by an apparently stony-hearted NHS.

First, there was Kathleen Devonport, from Chilton, County Durham.

Kathleen's specialist wanted to prescribe Sutent, a fully-licensed new drug that works by starving cancer cells of nutrients.

Impressive results from international trials suggested Sutent could slow Kathleen's advanced kidney cancer and give her more time with her family and friends.

But because Sutent costs about £30,000 a year and has not been approved as cost-effective enough to be prescribed on the NHS - according to the independent health watchdog Nice (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) Mrs Devonport was turned down.

Luckily for Mrs Devonport, an anonymous benefactor stepped in and agreed to fund £9,000- worth of Sutent or a similar drug called Nexavar.

Barbara Selby, from Richmond, North Yorkshire - another case featured in The Northern Echo this year - also has advanced kidney cancer.

After a lifetime working as a nurse Mrs Selby was told by her consultant that it was unlikely her local primary care trust would pay for treatment with Sutent.

Several months later, this was confirmed by the primary care trust (PCT) and Mrs Selby is still not on a drug that could potentially extend her life.

Then there was the case of mother-of-five Pamela Smith, from Darlington.

Mrs Smith has advanced bowel cancer and her NHS consultant recommended that she be given a new drug called Erbitux, which appears to slow the progression of the disease. Like Sutent, the drug is licensed in the UK, but has not been approved as cost effective by Nice.

Again, her local PCT in Darlington refused to allow the consultant to prescribe Erbitux Eventually, her family had to stump up the £28,000 needed to pay for six cycles of the drug.

The heart-wrenching case of Dave Hill, from Darlington, was the next to feature in The Northern Echo. Dave has advanced small cell lung cancer. The outlook is not good.

Once again, his hospital consultant wanted to give him a promising new drug called Tarceva, which is licensed in the UK but was rejected by Nice as not cost-effective enough for the NHS. His consultant made a formal application to the PCT for funding, which was initially not successful.

That led to a fundraising campaign spearheaded by his sixyear- old daughter, Chantelle, and Mr Hill beginning private treatment with Tarceva at a cost of nearly £2,000 a month.

Today, The Northern Echo can report that his long wait for NHS funding for Tarceva is over.

This is also true of Kathleen Devonport, after a U-turn by North-East health bosses that means Sutent is being fully-funded by the NHS.

But patients like Barbara Selby, Pamela Smith and advanced breast cancer patient Colette Mills (see facing page) are still waiting anxiously to see if the NHS will agree to pay for drugs that in many cases are the standard treatment in Western Europe and the US.

The Northern Echo would echo the comments of the Breast Cancer Care charity made yesterday, which recognised that Nice has speeded up the assessment of new cancer drugs, but criticised the continuing delays for patients who are running out of time.

Doctors, patients and charities agree that some way has to be found to speed up the assessment of new cancer drugs and to ensure that cost-effectiveness takes into account the impact of cancer on patients and their families and the importance of prolonging good quality of life.