BREAST cancer patient Amanda D'argue has spoken of her delight when she was told her primary care trust had agreed to prescribe her the wonderdrug Herceptin.

She said: "I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can get on with my treatment and recovery. I am now able to look forward to everything. From what the trials on Herceptin have shown it can do, this decision has made a massive difference to my whole outlook.

"I have had a lovely weekend spending time with the children because I haven't had this to worry about. Jessica is old enough to understand what's going on and she was over the moon."

Amanda was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in July and underwent an immediate mastectomy. She embarked on a course of chemotherapy and faces gruelling radiotherapy as part of her treatment.

The bank worker and Body Shop at Home consultant applied to Bolton Primary Care Trust (PCT) for the £21,000 drug, which was initially refused, and she was due to appeal against the decision on Tuesday.

However, at a meeting last Friday, 14 Greater Manchester PCTs agreed that the prescribing of Herceptin should be funded according to specific criteria. Patients have to be registered with a GP within the Greater Manchester PCT areas, and be treated at the Christie Hospital, and their clinician has to be confident that the potential benefits outweigh the risks in the individual patient's case. Amanda was contacted by telephone - with her supportive family around her - to be told that checks had been made with her clinicians and she DID fit the criteria.

The 39-year-old attended Christie's on Tuesday for a further session of chemotherapy and was told she could start on her first course of the Herceptin in April, after she has completed her radiotherapy. Amanda said: "Everyone at Christie's is excited about Herceptin, so I feel like I want it now but they said the trust has only agreed to prescribe it unlicensed if they follow the criteria to the letter."

The trusts are following European studies, which recommend the drug is taken after all other treatment has finished, whereas American studies claim the drug can be taken alongside chemotherapy.

Said Amanda: "To be honest, the time difference is negligible to the results. I am just relieved to be having it. My prognosis was not very good, my HER2 was particularly high and I was at high risk of the cancer returning within two years, so it was vital that I succeeded in getting Herceptin."

The drug, which is taken intravenously, is reported to have a 50 per cent success rate of preventing breast cancer returning and Friday's decision will apply to around a quarter of those diagnosed with breast cancer.

Kevin Snee, chief executive of Bolton PCT and chairman of the Greater Manchester & Cheshire Cancer Network, said: "I am pleased this issue is now resolved. We know it's been a very difficult and anxious time for individual patients. It has also been a difficult decision for the health community in Greater Manchester, and it has been good to see the clinicians and managers from different parts of the NHS in the area working together to reach a consensus."

It is anticipated that around 300 patients per year in Greater Manchester will now be treated, at a future cost of around £7.9 million per year. Costs in the current financial year are expected to be in the region of £1 million, with around 125 patients commencing treatment. A course of treatment lasts 12 months.

Liz Carroll, Head of Clinical Services at Breast Cancer Care, siad they applauded the decision made by Greater Manchester's fourteen primary care trusts. "Hundreds of distressed breast cancer patients have contacted our helpline on the issue of access to Herceptin and this will be an enormous relief to those who may benefit from this treatment in this area," she said.

"However, the case remains that access to the Herceptin is a postcode lottery. Women are at the mercy of their local primary care trusts as to whether they will be able to get this drug on the NHS. This decision further highlights the urgent need for the Government to provide clarification and guidance to all Primary Care Trusts on how Herceptin is prescribed while we await a licensing decision."

A license for Herceptin in the UK is expected in July 2006 at the earliest.