Stop blocking our breast cancer drug

Protesters go topless to demand life-extending treatment

- EMMA PRYER

PROUDLY topless, daubed in paint, 31 women gathered at Westminster yesterday to demand the approval of a "life-extending" cancer drug.

The group, representing the 31 lives lost to advanced breast cancer every day in the UK, included actress and Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha.

Nadia's close friend Hannah Gardner, who has incurable breast cancer, was also at Parliament calling for Enhertu to be made available on the NHS.

Campaigners have been lobbying decision-makers for months after learning that the pioneering drug had been blocked for use in England.

Nadia, 59, said: "Our message to the decision-makers is, 'You have the power. Let's see it. Show us you care because this could be your mother, your sister, your daughter"."

Enhertu is the brand name for trastuzumab deruxtecan, an antibody drug which could give terminally ill patients, with a subtype of incurable breast cancer called HER2-low secondary breast cancer, an additional six months of life.