Hampshire: Woman's plea to access Optune cancer treatment

A woman given two years to live is raising money for a £240,000 cancer treatment abroad after her efforts to have it funded in the UK failed.

Nancy Carter-Bradley, from Penwood in Hampshire, has been battling a brain tumour on and off since 2005.

The 46-year-old previously launched a campaign for a treatment called Optune to be funded by the NHS and asked for help to access it.

But the mother-of-two's requests for help have been refused.

She said the treatment would give her the chance to "buy some time".

But while her campaign to have it funded by the NHS continues, she has said she needs to access Optune as soon as possible.

Ms Carter-Bradley said the treatment would be a game-changer

She said she asked Novocure - the company behind the treatment - to help her access it.

But earlier this week the firm told her it cannot help her because she does not have private health insurance, she said.

"It is cutting out a whole part of the population who don't have private health insurance," she said.

"I'm going to die. I am absolutely desperate. I need this now."

She is now trying to raise the money for the £20,000-a-month treatment to see if she can have it done in Germany.

Ms Carter-Bradley wrote a children's book which was illustrated by her daughter Freya to raise funds for cancer research

Optune requires patients to have electrodes attached to their skull to allow frequencies to damage cancer cells.

It would have to be done in addition to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Ms Carter-Bradley thinks it should be accessible to everyone who needs it, but health chiefs in the UK believe the treatment is not cost-effective.

Novocure has been approached for comment.