Enlarge 

Fresh hope: Jean Murphy, 62, will have her case reviewed after being denied drugs to help her cancer condition

A grandmother denied life-prolonging cancer drugs has been given fresh hope by a judge who ordered her case to be reviewed.

Jean Murphy, 62, was diagnosed with kidney cancer last year and her consultant recommended a course of Sunitinib to extend her life by around six months.

But she became a 'postcode lottery' victim when her NHS Primary Care Trust refused to prescribe her the £3,500-a-month drug, although it is routinely given to patients by neighbouring trusts.

Salford PCT distributes the drug only in 'exceptional cases' and ruled that Mrs Murphy, who is wheelchair-bound and in constant pain, did not meet its guidelines.

However, at an emergency hearing at the High Court in London yesterday, a judge quashed the trust's decision to deny treatment and ordered it to review the situation.

Mr Justice Burnett said he had found 'error' with the way it had conducted its assessment. The PCT will reconvene next week.

Postcode lottery: The Health Authority refused to pay for drugs to prolong Jean Murphy's life

After the hearing, Mrs Murphy, who had travelled from Salford with her family, said: 'When people are ill like this, they should not have to go through the courts to get access to drugs that they should be entitled to.

'I am not just doing this for me but for all the people out there who need drugs to prolong their lives or give them a better quality of life.

'I am relieved the Primary Care Trust has to look at this again. But I am very aware that they still need to approve the drugs.'

During the three-hour hearing, the court was told that Sunitinib, which goes by the trade name Sutent, would prolong Mrs Murphy's life by around six months from the current estimate of 18 months.

Initially, it was suggested she could participate in a clinical trial for Sunitinib, but this was refused as Mrs Murphy had recently had breast cancer, from which she had recovered.

In October last year, she was prescribed the cancer drug Interferon but this was stopped after she developed severe depression. Her oncologist, Professor Robert Hawkins, based at Christie Hospital in Manchester, then recommended that she be treated with Sunitinib, saying she was 'an ideal patient'.

But a funding panel at Salford Primary Care Trust decided against prescribing the drug.

Professor Conor Gearty, a human rights expert representing Mrs Murphy, claimed the decision to deny the drug breached Article Two of the 1998 Human Rights Act, which protects 'the right to life'.

He added that Mrs Murphy is the main carer of her husband Michael, who has Crohn's disease, psoriasis and diabetes.