CAMPAIGNERS were last night celebrating after primary care trusts in Merseyside and Cheshire agreed to start offering a kidney cancer drug on the NHS. Sutent, is a drug yet to be licensed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, meaning PCTs are not obliged to offer it.

By Jenny Hope A CANCER patient has won a legal battle to buy a life-prolonging drug and still receive NHS treatment. The decision could open the floodgates for other cancer sufferers to challenge NHS trusts who are refusing to allow them to combine Health Service and private care.

By EMILY COOK KIDNEY cancer patients are being offered free drugs denied by the NHS. A pharmaceutical firm is funding the supply of Sutent - which can prolong lives by up to two years - in exchange for patients testing another new drug alongside it.

By PAUL BYRNE SHOWBIZ friends of music mogul Anthony Wilson are helping to pay for his kidney cancer treatment after the NHS refused to fund it. Wilson, 56, who managed Manchester bands Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays, had emergency surgery in January to remove a kidney.

By Sadie Gray The Happy Mondays and other acts championed by the Manchester music impresario Anthony Wilson are paying for his cancer treatment after the NHS turned down his request for a [pound]3,500-a-month drug.