'We have to raise £2k a month for Nan's cancer drugs'

A woman says her family is trying to raise the £2,000-a-month costs in Guernsey for her grandmother's "last option" cancer treatment.

Chelsea Hutton said her nan, Christine, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in August and previously had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She said the required treatment was called a PARP inhibitor.

Hutton said: "Unfortunately, it has spread around her body now and the treatment that she has to have, the States [of Guernsey] do not cover it. It has been very difficult. But throughout it all, she's the one that's actually kept us going, so her strength lives through all of us really."

The States of Guernsey have been asked for comment.

Hutton said the new treatment that Christine would need, a PARP inhibitor, was a type of targeted cancer drug.

She said her grandmother "was actually going to have another treatment but, unfortunately, that treatment is actually too dangerous for Nan to have now because the chemotherapy has actually damaged her blood cells - and so this new treatment is sort of our last option really".

Cancer Research UK said the PARP inhibitor helped damaged cells to repair themselves.

The charity said the treatment was used in breast cancer, ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, peritoneal cancer and prostate cancer but added researchers thought it might also work in some others cancers, including lung cancer.

The family would be holding two fundraising events to help pay for the treatment, Hutton said.

The first will be an indoor car boot sale at the Styx Centre in Guernsey on 15 February, with table top sales, a tombola, prizes and a cake sale.

The second is set to be a raffle at Mojito on 28 February organised by Hutton's friends.

She said: "Just knowing that my friends have took it into their own hands and also our small community to raise money for Nan, it's been absolutely amazing.

"It has been very difficult but the support that we've had from everyone has been absolutely amazing, and we just want to say a massive thank you to everyone."

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