A WIDOWER last night led calls for the NHS’s treatment advisers “to do the right thing” and overturn a ban on prescribing a life-extending kidney cancer drug.

Today the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s (Nice) technology appraisal committee meets in Manchester to discuss whet- her to allow the prescription of Sunitinib, which until now has been deemed too expensive for general NHS use.

The committee’s final guidance is expected to be published in March.

Kidney cancer sufferer Elke Williams, 65, from Witney, died two weeks ago.

The mother-of-two had twice been refused Sunitinib by the Oxfordshire NHS Primary Care Trust.

Last night, her husband Tony, 69, vowed to continue fighting on behalf of other patients in her memory.

He said: “Time is of the essence – people are dying. The sooner Nice makes its decision, the better.

“Elke was diagnosed about two years ago. She started suffering from headaches and they found she had a tumour on her brain, which was secondary cancer.

“She had it removed, but another one appeared — that’s when they discovered the primary cancer was in her kidney.

“It spread so quickly — by the end she had cancer all down the left side of her body.

“We always knew there was no cure, but Sunitinib could have extended her life for six months or maybe one or two years.

“In truth, we don’t know, but certainly it would have improved her quality of life.

“I don’t believe a drug should be refused to a patient on cost grounds and I’m calling on Nice to do the right thing.”

Until Nice issues its final guidance, Oxfordshire PCT will only prescribe Sunitinib in “exceptional circumstances”.

Kidney cancer sufferers Andy Crabb, 50, from Abingdon, and Stephen Dallison, 35, from Oxford, who both successfully appealed against the PCT’s refusal to prescribe the drug, said it had given them a new lease of life.

Fellow sufferer Clive Stone, 61, from Freeland, near Witney, is chairman of the Oxfordshire campaign group Justice for Kidney Cancer Patients.

He said: “Kidney cancer patients, like myself, all around the country, are anxiously awaiting Nice’s final guidance. Sunitinib is considered the best treatment for advanced kidney cancer in countries all over the world.

“It’s even available in Romania, one of the poorest countries in the European Union.

“Many of us cannot understand why we’re not allowed the drug when we’re in contact with patients in other countries who are still alive after three years, as they have been fortunate enough to have had access to Sunitinib.”

In August, Mrs Williams joined more than 60 campaigners from Oxford to protest outside Nice’s headquarters in London for the right of kidney cancer patients to receive the drug.

And in November, Mrs Williams spoke to the Oxford Mail after the PCT concluded it would “not be appropriate” to review its policy on the drug before Nice made its ruling.

She said: “Time is running out.

“Sunitinib may not be a cure, but it gives you the opportunity to live longer. It’s about quality of life.”

Mr Dallison, 34, from Oxford, was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer 18 months ago.

The diseased kidney was removed within three weeks and he was told by his consultant the remaining cancer should be treated with Sunitinib.

But he was shocked when Oxfordshire PCT turned down his application for the newly-licensed drug.

He said: “I felt like I had been left to die.”

However, in December 2007 he won the right to receive the drug. Over the past 12 months, he said his tumours had shrunk and he had only experienced minor side effects.

He said: “Although it’s unlikely Sunitinib will cure my cancer, it may well keep me alive long enough to take advantage of new and promising treatments currently in clinical trials.

“There are a lot of people who need and deserve the drug.

“It’s helped a great deal to improve my quality of life and it should be made available to everybody who might benefit.”

Mr Crabb, 50, of Crosslands Drive, Abingdon, said: “I’m now getting the tablets on the NHS.

“Nice should change its policy as soon as possible, so all kidney cancer patients can get the same treatment.

“We’re continuing to campaign on behalf of other sufferers who have not yet been given the drug on the NHS.”

tshepherd@oxfordmail.co.uk