Bowel cancer drugs should be on NHS, say Kent family

By: Katie May Nelson, local democracy reporter knelson@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 10:00, 06 August 2019

Updated: 13:46, 06 August 2019

A daughter has made a passionate appeal to get her mum a potentially life-saving cancer drug.

Mum-of-three Paula Horwite has stage four bowel cancer and has endured almost 50 rounds of chemotherapy trying to get rid of tumours that have been found in various parts of her body.

The former Tunbury Primary School teacher from Ten Acre Way, Rainham, was first diagnosed with the disease in 2016, where it was thought the tumour had progressed so significantly, that she had to have part of her bowel removed.

Paula with her daughters Maddie and Genevieve, and son Jake

Through the course of her long battle, her children Maddie Green, Genevieve Green, and Jake Horwite , have rallied around her.

They took part in a 20km run for Macmillan Cancer, where they raised £2,000.

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Now they have set up a GoFundMe page to raise £40,000 for a course of drugs which they believe will her prolong her life, or even save it.

Maddie said: “Mum’s tumour showed that she has a Kras mutation, which is an aggressive mutation with a poor prognosis and means she can’t have any of the targeted drugs available on the NHS, so once the current chemotherapies she is on stop working, she has few options left.

"We know that it isn't going to be a cure for cancer, but it will go towards helping our mum live her life for a few more years and to watch my siblings and myself grow older" - Maddie Horwite

“There is, however, a targeted treatment drug that mum could have, but it’s now only covered in the UK, by private health insurance, which we don’t have.

“We are confident that the tumours can be dramatically reduced and could even mean that mum will become eligible for surgery to remove the tumours permanently.”

As well as the rounds of chemotherapy, 51-year-old Paula has also endured a left lung resection, developed small tumours in her liver, and had brain surgery in April this year.

Maddie, 22, said: “We know that it isn’t going to be a cure for cancer, but it will go towards helping our mum live her life for a few more years and to watch my siblings and myself grow older.”