TIME is running out for an East Dorset mum of three after she was refused a break-through cancer treatment that could prolong her life.

Kathy Craven, who lives near Wimborne and has been fighting breast cancer for five years, has been denied treatment following a recent NHS funding clampdown.

Just two months ago the 43-year-old would have received a new type of radiation therapy.

But she was not referred to hospital until it was too late.

Kathy claims she went to her GP surgery 15 times with symptoms that indicated her cancer had spread to her liver but was told it was probably nothing serious.

The therapy, which could halve Mrs Craven’s tumours, was removed from the Cancer Drugs Fund list of treatments in April.

Kathy claims the radiation would actually save the NHS money because it costs less than the chemotherapy she is receiving. She said: “Time is of the essence, and I don’t understand why I, and women like me, can be refused funding – it’s grossly unfair.

“When this nightmare started and I had to tell my boys that I had cancer, I promised them that I would do everything and anything in my power to stay with them for as long as possible.

“I was elated when I discovered there was a real chance of extending my life, but it has turned to despair.

“My oncologist says I need to be treated within the next month and I’ll fight this dec-ision – I’m fighting for my life.”

Kathy lives with her partner Brian Russell, 47, and three boys; Alfie, 13, Finn, eight, and seven-year-old Casey.

She had pinned her hopes on Selective Internal Radiation-Spheres, known as SIRT, in which millions of tiny radio-active beads are injected into the artery that supplies the cancer.

Kathy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and, despite a double mastectomy, she feared the disease had spread.

She claims it took 15 visits to GPs and a private scan before a huge mass was found on her liver.

Her hopes of receiving SIRT treatment were dashed when her medical teams at Poole and Southampton hospitals were told last week by NHS England they could not treat her.

The family is now facing the daunting task of raising around £45,000 for private treatment.

To support the fundraising campaign phone 01202 885369 or 07813 799380.