We have written in this column a number of times regarding the plight of breast cancer patients in UK. Even though herceptin was approved in USA and Canada for the adjuvant therapy of HER2 positive patients, the regulatory agencies in UK have been giving a hard time to women in UK. There were a number of protests and law-suits regarding this issue.

Now finally it looks like, thousands of women across UK will have access to herceptin after health watchdog's approval Herceptin for use as adjuvant treatment in breast cancer.

The decision comes after a long-running battle between patients and primary care trusts (PCT) across the country, to tackle what was described as a "postcode lottery" in the prescription of the drug.

We have written previously 53-year-old Ann Marie Rogers who protested, filed a law suit and won her case against Swindon PCT, which was forced to pay for her herceptin therapy. The court rat that time ruled that it was "irrational" for the trust to deny her drug after other PCTs had provided it elsewhere.

The trust had argued that the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) had yet to recommend use of the drug in early breast cancer sufferers except in "exceptional circumstances", but this was rejected by the court.

Health secretary Patricia Hewitt was last year accused causing much of the confusion when she told PCTs it was up to clinicians to decide, eventhough cost could not be cited as an issue for refusing Herceptin.

She told North Stoke PCT that its refusal to pay for herceptin, which costs £20,000 a year, because Nice had yet to conclude if it was safe or cost-effective, contradicted evidence from other trusts who had agreed to fund it.

Joanne Rule, chief executive of charity Cancerbackup, said: "Women with early breast cancer who are HER2 positive will feel immense relief after the decision to approve Herceptin".

And Christine Fogg, joint chief executive of Breast Cancer Care, added: "This should mean that no one will ever again be forced to endure the terrible stress of having to fight to access the drug on the NHS in England or Wales".

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