Fought-for drug could add 10 years to life

A Black Country grandfather who won a battle for £28,000 funding for rare brain tumour drugs has been told his treatment could add 10 years to his life.

Keith Walker, aged 52, from Wednesbury, suffers from acromegaly, a rare tumour on his pituitary gland that would cause his bones to grow unchecked and cause cancers if left untreated.

Mr Walker, an engineer of Queen Street, won a campaign for health bosses to pay for a drug called Pegvisomant to tackle the condition in December. And five months on, tests show the medicine is bringing his condition under control and could add a decade onto his life.

Mr Walker, who lives with his partner Elaine Collins and her daughter Gemma, said: "The hormone that was making my bones grow has dropped drastically, doctors have told me. If it works out, it could add ten years to my life.

"To start with they had to put me on a lower dosage because the medication affects your liver but they've upped it now and the results are good. My growth hormone used to be more than four times the acceptable level but it's come down a lot. If they'd left it, I would have started developing cancers but my condition is improving."

Bosses at Sandwell Primary Care Trust (PCT) initially said it was too expensive to pay for Mr Walker's treatment, but after a campaign supported by more than 2,000 people, health chiefs made a U-turn.

"To see the treatment reap rewards so soon was proof it was a campaign worth fighting," Mr Walker said.