Bowel cancer patients are celebrating Christmas today in protest at being denied access to new drug treatments, which mean they may not survive to see the festive season.
The charity Beating Bowel Cancer said it is staging Christmas five months early for the 7,084 patients who may not live until the end of the year.
New targeted drug therapies, such as Avastin and Erbitux, have been shown to extend survival by an average of five months, which could help some patients live to see Christmas with their families this year.
But the charity said while the drugs are available to the 12% of sufferers with private healthcare on a patient-by-patient basis, only a handful of NHS patients have received them.
Hilary Whittaker, the charity's chief executive, is launching an appeal for fairer access at a Santa's grotto in Covent Garden, London, today. She was joined by bowel cancer patient Debbie Munro, who was forced to sell her house to fund her treatment.
A Christmas card wishlist, calling for action to end inequality, is also being handed to No 10 Downing Street.
Ms Whittaker said: "We have people calling us daily confused about these treatments - they don't understand why they can't get them. Others have been forced to re-mortgage their houses to pay for treatment which could offer them the chance of a longer life - medicine which is already licensed in the UK and should be widely available."
A YouGov poll of more than 2,000 people across Britain found that only 22% believed cancer care was adequately funded. The survey also found that 90% were angry or very angry at the thought that they might have to fund the cost of cancer treatment themselves.
Dr Harpreet Wasan, a consultant medical oncologist at Hammersmith hospital in west London, said targeted drug therapies were a new and effective way to treat advanced bowel cancer.
He said: "When combined with traditional chemotherapy agents, the targeted therapies can extend life by an average of five months. These therapies not only offer an extension in life expectancy to patients with advanced bowel cancer now, but also may, in the future, have the potential to work in combination with other therapies to achieve curative results for early stage bowel cancer."
Beating Bowel Cancer said since the 1990s, the average life expectancy for a patient newly diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer had risen from five months to 15 months. The addition of targeted therapies could increase this life expectancy to 20 months.
Every day 95 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer, and every seven days bowel cancer claims 322 lives.
Ms Whittaker said: "While we welcome the private sector's recognition of the importance of newer therapies, we do not believe access should be limited to people with private health insurance.
"The government says that it wants a 'patient-centred NHS', but it must act now to ensure that the gulf between privately insured patients and the majority of the general public grows no further.
"Five months may not seem long to someone who is healthy, but to someone dying from cancer and to their family, it means a great deal. These extra months shouldn't only be available to people who can pay."
A Department of Health spokesman said: "A consultant can prescribe any product which they consider to be necessary for the treatment of their patients under the NHS, provided the primary care trust or NHS trust agrees to supply it at NHS expense.
"We're committed to preventing cancer and improving the services for patients that develop the disease. We'll shortly be unveiling details of a new national bowel cancer screening programme to help tackle the disease by catching it in its early stages."
