Cancer care funds at risk for UK patients

A Huddersfield mother with ALK positive lung cancer seeks expensive treatment in Germany after NHS options run out.

Toothache Reveals a Cancer Battle That Tests the NHS

A Huddersfield mother of three, 38-year-old Keshia Liburd, expected a simple toothache to be treated by a dentist. After checks found nothing wrong, she developed chest pain and was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. An X-ray led to a diagnosis of ALK-positive lung cancer, a rare and aggressive form that can strike non-smokers. She underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy in the UK, but was told that NHS funded targeted drugs were not available to her.

Her cancer returned within three months and spread to the liver, lymph nodes, and brain. She has endured multiple rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy and is now on a fourth round. With UK options limited, her family looked abroad and found potential treatment at the WEGE Clinic in Bonn, Germany, at a cost of about £40,000. A GoFundMe page has raised over £8,000, and friends plus local businesses have organized raffles and events to help. The family notes that Germany offers advanced therapies not available in the UK, such as TACE and Dendritic Cell Therapy, which could potentially save her life.

This case highlights gaps in access to targeted cancer therapies in the UK. While some drugs exist, NHS funding for targeted therapies is uneven and slow to change, leaving patients like Keshia to seek options abroad when local care falls short.

The story also shows the emotional and financial strain on families who must navigate fundraising to access potentially life-saving treatment. It prompts questions about how policy choices allocate budget and whether the system should guarantee faster access to innovative therapies. It raises the issue of cross-border care as a symptom of broader health system pressures and the moral question of who bears the cost when life hangs in the balance.

Highlights

Policy choices will shape how families fight cancer in the years ahead.