A DECISION by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to recommend the NHS to offer the cancer medication Enhertu has been welcomed by West Somerset MP Rachel Gilmour.

Mrs Gilmour said it was a ‘landmark moment’ for people with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer.

She said: “Access to this vital life-extending drug means thousands of people will have the opportunity to spend more precious time with loved ones.

“I am delighted this treatment will now be available to patients who desperately need it.”

Mrs Gilmour who is a breast cancer champion, has been supporting Breast Cancer Now’s ‘Enhertu Now’ campaign, which, alongside METUPUK and Make 2nds Count, has called for more than two years for a solution to be found to make Enhertu available to patients on the NHS.

Breast Cancer Now chief executive Claire Rowney said: “After more than two years of relentless campaigning, we can finally say we did it.

“This is a momentous day for thousands of people who now have access to a drug that could give them precious extra time.

“While today is a clear victory, we must now see Wales and Northern Ireland follow suit.

“And we cannot celebrate this decision without remembering the devastating cost of the delay to get here.

“Since 2024 when Enhertu was first rejected for use, thousands of people have missed out on access to the drug and tragically many have died.

“We remember with deep gratitude the women who stood alongside us and fought for this very moment.

“We are calling on the Government, NICE, NHS England and the pharmaceutical industry to work together to fix this broken system, so that people with incurable metastatic cancer are not forced to spend precious months and years campaigning for treatments that could give them more time.”