Our Mum's Lung Cancer Fight

We are reaching out to you with a heavy heart to share our mum's story. In 2021 she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Lung Cancer despite never having smoked a day in her life.

Over the past two. Years she has undergone gruelling rounds of Chemotherapy, Immunotherapy and Radiotherapy, fighting with every ounce of strength she has.

Unfortunately, her cancer is aggressive and has a mutation called HER2 which is rare. The cancer is spreading and she has recently had to endure 2 hours of Stereotactic Radiotherapy Surgery to her brain.

Her Oncology team have told us that she urgently needs a specific drug called Enhertu - this drug actively targets the HER2 mutation that her cancer has.

Shockingly whilst this drug is available on the NHS for breast cancer patients who have the HER2 mutation it has still not been approved by NICE for use in lung cancer patients.

Her oncologist has told us that faced with the same situation, the drug they would want for their family would be this one. However, it is proving impossible to get.

We have exhausted every avenue in our search for help, we have reached out to AstraZeneca (UK and USA branches), Daiichi Sankyo (Japanese Manufacturer together with AstraZeneca) NHS England, NICE, CEO and Chief Medical Officers at UHB, and our local MP but no one will help us. The QE hospital where she is being treated have applied to get this drug from the Pharmaceutical Company on compassionate grounds but has been refused.

The injustice is alarming -how is it fair that a drug that could halt the progress of this disease and give someone more time is accessible only if one can pay for it. We are devastated by the immoral reality that our mum could be sitting in the same cancer clinic as someone who will receive this drug for free, simply because they have breast cancer, whilst our mum is denied access because of the type of cancer she has.

Today we were told that to buy the drug is going to cost us £9,040 every three weeks and will need to be paid upfront. We are hoping to start treatment within the next 4-6 weeks but will be guided by the professionals as to the exact date. We are intending to fund the first few treatments from our savings but we know this will not be sustainable for too long. Treatment will continue if the drug is shown to be working, which we all hope it will be but obviously, this will require us to find this money every three weeks. Our mum can no longer work due to her condition so this is a big ask. So, reluctantly we are setting up this GoFundMe campaign not only for our mum but also for other people who may be in a similar position, denied access to life-prolonging drugs because of the type of cancer that have. We believe that everyone should have the right to receive the best possible treatment for their condition regardless of the type of cancer they have. We also have a petition to help make this change a reality https://chng.it/WJRpdTQk

Any contribution, no matter how small will be immensely appreciated and will go towards funding our mum's treatment. We are grateful for your support, prayers and positive messages during this difficult time.

Thank you for standing with us in this fight against cancer and injustice!

Ellie and Adam