Cancer treatment call

Man told he could die in a month is saved by drug not available on NHS

A high-flying director told by doctors he could die next month has called on MP Julian Brazier to help patients get potentially life-saving cancer drugs.

Matt Burton says there is NHS treatment which can save lives but it is not accessible to all patients due to stringent pharmaceutical licensing rules.

The 39-year-old – who was given just six months to live in October – has colorectal cancer, which has spread to his liver and lungs.

But since undergoing private treatment in Germany – including two drugs he has been refused in the UK – his tumours have reduced considerably.

Mr Burton, project director at branding company Think Global Projects, said: “The treatment I’m receiving is available on the NHS, but they are not allowing me to use it. I paid £9,000 for a report which says my type of cancer can be treated with a drug – Herceptin – which is used to treat breast cancer. But over here it is only licensed for breast cancer, so even though it can help me, I can’t have it.”

The treatment in Germany is costing him thousands, prompting his friends to set up a crowdfunding page to help him fund it.

Mr Burton, of St Peter’s Grove, Canterbury, says he hopes his story will make people aware there are other options. He said “I met Julian Brazier to say the treatment I’m receiving in Germany is available on the NHS. I’m walking proof these drugs work. Next month is when I’m going to die according to the NHS. When I went in to see Julian Brazier he got me mixed up with someone else as he didn’t expect me to look this well.”

Mr Brazier said he is taking it up with the local NHS commissioning group to see if it is prepared to fund treatment for him.

Emily Carey, spokesman for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which decides which treatments are available on the NHS, said she could not comment on individual cases. She stressed, however, that as and when treatment is offered depends on the individual’s situation.

She said: “When NICE recommends a treatment ‘as an option’, the NHS must make sure it is available within three months of this guidance being published. With regard to Herceptin, we do not review drugs which are not licensed by the European Medicines Agency for certain indications of a disease or condition. Herceptin is not licensed for use to treat colorectal cancer.”

Visit www.justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/matt-burton.

Matt Burton, from Canterbury, was told he had six months to live but is now recovering from cancer due to groundbreaking treatment abroad

Canterbury and Whitstable MP Julian Brazier