A CANCER patient who decided to pay for a drug after failing to get NHS cash says the treatment has been so effective it has got rid of some of his tumours.

Ian Bowers began taking Sunitinib, also known as Sutent, in the hope it would reduce or even get rid of dozens of tumours on his lungs. So far this has cost £12,068.

Sunitinib is used to treat kidney cancer patients on the NHS but not usually people with Ian's condition.

Now the 40-year-old has been given the results of a scan at Weston Park Hospital, a dedicated cancer centre in Sheffield.

His wife, Jane Richards, of The Hill, Cromford, said: "Many of his tumours have disappeared and others have reduced significantly."

Ian was diagnosed with rare cancer phaeochromocytoma in January 2007 and had a tumour weighing 1lb 1oz removed from near a kidney.

The tumours release hormones which affect Ian's blood pressure and heart rate and these symptoms have improved dramatically.

Now, Ian will have several more months of treatment before having a second scan in February.

If this shows continued improvements, the couple plan to appeal to Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust to pay for future courses of the drug.

A spokeswoman for the trust said she was unable to comment on individual cases.

She added: "We consider treatment for individuals on a case-by-case basis.

"We have a panel which includes medical experts whose assessment takes three things into account: the clinical effectiveness of the treatment, the cost effectiveness of the treatment and whether or not the patient will significantly benefit."

Guidelines on which drugs should be funded by the NHS are created by the National Institute For Health and Clinical Excellence.

But a spokeswoman for the institute said it had not been approached by the Department of Health to develop any guidance regarding the use of Sunitinib to treat people with Ian's condition.

A spokeswoman for drug manufacturer Pfizer previously told the Derby Telegraph it had no plans to market the drug to people with the illness.

Unlicensed drugs can be given to patients – but any complications are the responsibility of the doctor who prescribes them.

Rose Woodward, of the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer, was involved in the successful campaign to make the drug available to people with kidney cancer.

She said: "Some of our kidney cancer patients have had nothing short of remarkable results from it and seen massive shrinkage of their tumours."

Weston Park Hospital did not wish to comment.