HERCEPTIN campaigner Viv Foster has received her first dose of the life-saving medication – but she has had to foot the bill herself.

Breast cancer patient Mrs Foster, pictured, of Tudor Rose Way, Norton, was told her tumour was not big enough to warrant a course of the drug on the NHS, even though her oncologist says she needs it. Now the 52-year-old has received her first course of the treatment, paid for privately – but at £1,600 every three weeks, or a total fee of £29,000 for a year's course, Mrs Foster and her family will struggle to afford it.

Mrs Foster, a company secretary with Burslem-based Excell Electrical Contractors, said: "I had my first treatment on Tuesday. I was fine with it. I am going to keep fighting to receive it on the NHS. I have not given up my fight."

Mrs Foster is suffering from an aggressive form of breast cancer, which is specifically targeted by Herceptin. Her cancer is currently in remission, but a year's course of Herceptin would halve the risk of tumours coming back.