Ann Marie Rogers has succeeded in her legal battle to force her Primary Care Trust to fund her treatment with Herceptin.

Herceptin has been licensed only for late stage breast cancer, and Ms Rogers cancer was in the early stage. Trials indicated that the drug halved the likelihood of a recurrence of the cancer in early stage sufferers, and as a result early stage breast cancer sufferers argued that they should be treated with the drug, despite the fact the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) had not yet licensed the drug for use.

Treatment with the drug costs £26,000 a course. Some Trusts would fund threatment; others, including Ms Rogers Trust of Swindon, only funded treatment in exceptional cases. The reasoning behind the decision the Primary Care Trust argued was not one of cost, but as a result the Court argued that the Trust could not legitimately treat one patient but not another if cost was not a factor.

Ms Rogers hailed the ruling which she said had given her back her future.

The ruling does not however open the doors for all patients to receive the treatment. The Judges hearing the case ruled that trusts could still choose between patients to receive treatment as long as cost was a factor. NICE are due to decide in the near future whether to approve the drug for treatment.