A man dying of cancer has vowed to fight all the way to court after NHS managers confirmed he would not be given life-prolonging drugs.

As reported in the Oxford Mail earlier this week, scientist Stephen Dallison has been given 12 to 18 months to live and is at the centre of a postcode lottery row after being refused the drug Sunitinib.

Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust said it made its decision because of insufficient clinical information, but after receiving more evidence on Wednesday it has rejected his request because his clinical circumstances are "not exceptional".

The 33-year-old, of Iffley Road, East Oxford, said: "If your life is on the line, then surely that qualifies as exceptional circumstances.

"I feel very angry about this. They've offered me the chance to appeal against their decision. I would certainly consider legal action if my appeal is turned down."

Mr Dallison, who works at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Didcot, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in July, and despite having the infected tissue removed the disease returned.

Doctors at the Churchill Hospital believe £2,500-a-month Sunitinib would give him extra months or even years.

The drug stops cancer growing and cuts off blood supply to tumours. It stabilises cancer in a third of patients.

Mr Dallison is one of an estimated 15 county patients cancer experts feel would benefit from the medication every year.

Oxfordshire PCT policy states the drug can only be given if a patient's clinical situation is "significantly different to the general population of patients with the condition in question" and they are likely to gain more benefit from the drug than the average person with the condition.

However, even if treatment is likely to work it will not automatically be funded.

The PCT's treatment request panel has turned down six requests for the drug this financial year. None has been funded.

Mr Dallison said: "There's no way of telling before you use the drug whether it will work or not, so they can't pre-judge.

"The only way to tell that it's effective is by giving it to you."

His appeal is backed by St Clements surgery GP Dr Tia MacGregor, who said she would support any legal action.

She added: "It's not as if Stephen is asking for a drug only available in America. This is a drug already being used successfully in the UK.

"The PCT's decision is affecting one of my patients and it really makes me angry."

A PCT spokesman confirmed Mr Dallison's request had been denied.

She explained that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, which decides on treatments to be used by the NHS, was due to give guidance on Sunitinib in December 2009.

She added: "The PCT's prioritis forum is undertaking a review of the clinical evidence for Sunitinib and will advise the PCT on the drug's future use in the NHS in Oxfordshire.