Annabel is now cancer-free with survival odds of 75%, but relapses of HRN have a “high mortality rate”, Ms Ashmore said.
“With this particular cancer, the risk of relapses is always there and it’s very hard to feel happy and safe,” she said.
The drug difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) was available in Australia and the USA, and had been “proven to reduce relapse and increase survival rates to 85%”, she added.
But DFMO needs to be administered within three months of the patient completing immunotherapy, which means Annabel needs it by November at the latest.
“It’s time critical and the NHS approval process won’t happen quick enough for [Annabel],” Ms Ashmore said.