BRAVE cancer patient Amanda D'argue faces an anxious wait this weekend as she prepares to hear whether she can have the wonderdrug Herceptin.

Fourteen Greater Manchester Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) will meet on Monday to decide if they should prescribe the drug on the NHS.

Then on Tuesday, Mrs D'argue, of Winchester Road, Radcliffe, will attend an appeal hearing with Bolton PCT - one of the 14 meeting on Monday - to hear whether her application for Herceptin has been successful.

As reported in the Bury Times, the 39-year-old was initially refused the breast cancer drug as it is currently unlicensed in the UK. However, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has ordered fast track tests to be carried out so it can be available on the NHS by next summer.

In the meantime, she has warned PCTs not to refuse the drug - which costs in the region of £21,000 - on cost grounds alone and has even intervened in some cases where the drug has been denied a patient.

Mrs D'argue, who has two young children, has received a wealth of support from family and friends and fundraising has already begun in case her appeal fails.

A sponsored walk in Rivington on Sunday has raised several thousands of pounds towards her goal.