A YOUNG Silsden woman battling cancer has joined a campaign to stop a life-extending drug being withdrawn from the NHS.

Kirsty Brade has called on the government and drug manufacturer Roche to agree a price for Kadcyla so the expensive treatment can continue.

Kirsty, 28, of High Dale Rise, said it was likely she would need the drug if her breast cancer returned.

Kadcyla has been shown to prolong life for women with incurable breast cancer for nine months, but costs £90,000 per year for the course of treatment.

Lancashire-born Kirsty was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2015 and after months of treatment including chemotherapy was recently given the ‘no evidence of disease’ (NED) status.

But she knows the disease could reappear at any time up and this month signed up to Breast Cancer Now’s campaign #KeepKadcyla.

She spoke publicly after Roche and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body responsible for approving NHS funding for drug treatments, failed to reach agreement on how much the government would pay.

Kirsty, who works at Asda’s head office in Leeds, said: “It is devastating to hear that Kadcyla – a crucial life-extending treatment for women with incurable secondary breast cancer – faces being withdrawn from the NHS.

“I have primary breast cancer at the moment. My breast cancer is HER2 positive, which means if my cancer returns Kadcyla would be one of my drug options.

“Kadcyla can offer patients precious extra months – even years – of good quality time with their loved ones, with fewer side effects than other treatments.

“It is being used by women in my support group now. It's extending their lives. It could extend my life - but not if it's withdrawn from the NHS.”

Kirsty said the “fantastic medical advance” was available to cancer patients in many other countries, including France, Germany and Australia.

She added: “There is very little time left for this decision to be reversed and I urge NICE and Roche to do everything in their power to keep this drug available.”

NICE rejected Kadcyla because it had the highest price tag ever for a cancer medicine and the organisation believed its benefits did not justify its cost.

Until now patients have been able to get funding for the drug under the Cancer Drugs Fund, set up by the last government to cover such circumstances, but the Fund massively overspent and was recently brought under the control of NICE.