A cancer victim has been gievn a glimmer of hope after health chiefs agreed to review the decision to deny him a life prolonging drug.

After his story was exclusively reported in the Kentish Express last week, arrangements are being made for another Primary Care Trust to take up Clive Denton's case to ensure the Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT had handled his treatment and request correctly.

Retired engineer Mr Denton, 66, from Pested Lane, Challock, is suffering from bone marrow cancer.

He has been told he has six months to live, although experts have told him with treatment using the drug Revlimid his life expectancy could be extended to two and a half years or much more.

In a statement this week, spokesman Nick Evans said: “The Trust is always anxious to ensure the care given to its patients is safe and effective.

“In its opinion, there has not been enough evidence so far to suggest that Revlimid is the most appropriate drug for Mr Denton.

“However if his consultant can present new evidence, demonstrating that this treatment is effective and safe for this patient, then the PCT will be happy to reconsider this individual case as a matter of urgency”.

In a joint statement Mr Denton and his wife Gaynor said they were surprised by the press statement from the PCT.

It said: “They seem to suggest that Revlimid is an experimental drug and they have not had enough evidence to suggest it is the most appropriate for Clive.

“The drug was licensed in 2007 with a high level of evidence to support its safety and clinical effectiveness. It is provided to patients by many other PCT’s across the country and two consultant haematologists, highly qualified and experienced man who have been treating him for the past 3.5 years say it is the drug he needs."