'I'm willing to give up my house for chance to live'

A DAD of four sentenced to death by the cancer he has fought for years may have to risk his home to give him a little more precious time with his family.

Paul Popham has been told chemotherapy will do nothing to tackle his kidney cancer and he has just nine months to live.

His only hope of living longer is controversial drug Sutent that could prolong his life.

But he fears he may have to remortgage his family home, as the drug costs around £30,000 a year.

He said: "Sutent will probably prolong my life by a year to 18 months.

"I will have to think of re-mortgaging the house if the LHB does not prescribe it."

Health bosses say Mr Popham has yet to apply for funding for the drug but the cancer sufferer is worried his appeal will be turned down as the drug is not readily available on the NHS.

The family of the 63-year-old, of Ullswater Crescent, in Morriston, have rallied to his side and launched a petition calling for Sutent to be available free for patients.

His Llangyfelach-based daughter Joanne is drawing the petition to help both her dad and others like him to win funding for the drug.

Mr Popham, a retired fitter and turner with Alcoa, said he was devastated after he discovered his kidney cancer had spread.

He said: "In 2005, I was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour on my kidney.

"To be honest, I was shocked — but the medics said 'do not worry, we will cut it out and we will take the kidney away and it will be okay'.

"There was no cancer there when I was going back to the clinic.

"But the last time, I think it was back in August that I was given a CT scan, they said the cancer had spread before they took my kidney out, but they were unable to detect it — it spread to my lung, stomach lining and bone."

He added: "In Morriston Hospital, they told me I would need chemotherapy, as they said the cancer had not gone and I would have to see the oncologist.

"When I went to see cancer expert John Wagstaff, he said basically the cancer had spread and the chemotherapy is no good for kidney cancer and would not work.

"He said Sutent was effective and prolonged life and the results were better."

Mr Popham said the treatment was expected to cost around £3,000 for a six-week course.

The drug is not widely available on the NHS and Pfizer — the company which produces Sutent — said it was disappointed that kidney cancer patients will face a further delay before the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) releases its final guidance on the funding of the drug. It was back in 1979 that Mr Popham started to suffer kidney failure problems.

He then underwent dialysis before undergoing two kidney transplants operations at the then Cardiff Royal Infirmary during 1985 and 1995.

Mr Popham said he appreciated what the NHS had done in the past to help him, but said he now feared he may need to re-mortgage his house if the LHB refused to fund the drug.

His 38-year-old daughter Joanne Popham, who is managing director of Aber Recruitment, said they were lobbying AMs, including Assembly Health Minister Edwina Hart, over the issue.

He added: "We will be launching a petition calling for Sutent to be made available on the NHS — we are hoping to collect just over 1,000 signatures, which we are hoping to take to the Assembly next week."

A spokeswoman for Swansea Local Health Board added: "Regrettably, the LHB is not able to comment on individual cases.

"However, we can confirm that no application for additional funding for this gentleman has been received by the LHB.

"If an application is received, we will consider this case in line with our Individual Patient Commissioning Policy."

Anyone wishing to sign the petition should contact sutentcampaign@ntlworld.com