Updated

Updated · BBC.com · Jul 13

Kinver Father Seeks £200,000 for Eye Cancer Treatment After Routine Test Reveals Terminal Disease

Updated

Updated · BBC.com · Jul 13

Kinver Father Seeks £200,000 for Eye Cancer Treatment After Routine Test Reveals Terminal Disease

Q: When a treatment helps 90% of patients, why must families crowdfund £200,000 for it?

Because “helps 90%” is not the same as “proven enough, safe enough and cost-effective enough for routine NHS funding.” In Jez Bridges’ case, the treatment is chemosaturation, or percutaneous hepatic perfusion, for uveal melanoma that has spread to the liver. It is a highly specialised procedure costing about £40,000 to £46,000 per session, so several sessions can quickly approach £200,000 once hospital care, scans and follow-up are included. For a rare cancer affecting only hundreds of people a year in the UK, the evidence base is smaller than for common cancers, which makes funding decisions harder. The “90%” figure also needs context. Patient groups say recent studies suggest nine in 10 patients may get some benefit, but that can mean tumour shrinkage or disease stability, not a cure. Published data are encouraging, with disease control rates around three-quarters and median survival near two years in some studies, but NICE has still said there are uncertainties about safety and effectiveness and that the treatment should be used only with strong oversight. That is the key reason families end up crowdfunding: the NHS does not automatically pay for every promising treatment. It funds treatments that clear both clinical and cost-effectiveness thresholds across the whole system. When a therapy is expensive, intensive, used for a rare cancer and still carries evidence gaps, patients can be left to seek private care even if the treatment may extend life.

2 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jul 13

Jez Bridges, 59, was diagnosed with terminal uveal melanoma after a routine eye test last July found a mole on his eye, and he is now trying to raise £200,000 for private treatment.
An OCT scan at his optician led to the diagnosis even though he had no symptoms; six months later, doctors said the rare eye cancer had spread to his liver and gave him one to two years to live.
Chemosaturation — priced at £40,000 to £46,000 a session — is his only option to potentially extend his life, but it is not available on the NHS.
NICE says the procedure can be used with oversight but cited uncertainties over safety and efficacy, while Ocular Melanoma UK said a recent study showed benefit in nine out of 10 patients.
Bridges and his family are also using the appeal to stress regular eye tests, saying the scan gave them valuable time to prepare and make memories together.