Terminal Patient Now Enjoying Life Thanks to Zytiga

A man with terminal prostate cancer is urging officials to fund a £32,000 a year drug that is keeping him alive.

Dave Lee has been battling the cancer since 2004 but says the drug, Abiraterone, is his final hope.

He says the drug, which has been paid for with a temporary Government fund, has made a huge difference to his life since he began taking it four months ago.

He now has far more energy and suffers less from pain and tiredness – and is able to spend much more time enjoying life with his wife Jacky.

He has also been able to raise £12,500 for charity in recent months and has set up what they believe is the only support group in the region to help others with his condition.

But the 61-year-old is now waiting for officials at the Government's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to decide whether they will allow the drug to be routinely available on the NHS.

NICE officials have recommended that the drug should be approved – but a final decision, expected later this month, has yet to be made.

Mr Lee, from New Row in Messingham, said: "It's really important. There are people taking this drug like me who are enjoying a longer life and more quality of life for a while longer.

"I know it's an expensive drug, but while the drug is available, it ought to be used."

Abiraterone is a treatment for prostate cancer that aims to block the production of certain male hormones that stimulate prostate cancers to grow.

And without the drug, Mr Lee said there would be no more treatments available to help him fight the cancer.

"It could have been the end for me, looking back a few months," he said.

"Now I can enjoy a reasonable quality of life and travel and see a bit of the world."

Mr Lee was told in 2004 that he might only have five years to live, but he has confounded the doctors ever since. The new drug extends life by around four months in people with advanced prostate cancer.

But he says with new treatments like Abiraterone coming on the market all the time, medicine offers hope that his life could continue for much longer than that.

Mrs Lee said: "The drug has made a big a difference. He has a lot more energy and he is feeling a lot better.

"We have always taken the view that we want to make each day count and make the most of every day."

And she said it was vital the drug was approved for use.