A MOTHER of three from Swindon who is suffering from an aggressive form of breast cancer said she is living "on death row'' unless the local NHS trust funds her treatment with the drug Herceptin.

Ann Marie Rogers, 54, is fighting a landmark High Court battle to force health service managers to pay for her treatment.

She has been refused the drug which is said to halve the chances of the aggressive HER-2 form of breast cancer returning by Swindon Primary Care Trust.

The trust says the drug is currently licensed for treating advanced breast cancer, and it is policy only to fund it for early stage treatment in "exceptional cases''.

After considering the case of Ms Rogers, a former restaurant manager from Haydon Wick, the PCT concluded there were no "exceptional clinical or personal circumstances'' in her case.

But yesterday at the court Ms Rogers said: "My honest view is that I feel like the refusal of Herceptin is as though I have been given a punishment, like a death sentence.

"With my prognosis, waiting for the cancer to return is like waiting on death row.'' Ms Rogers described her "constant fear'' of dying of a disease which has already killed her mother and a cousin.

She has borrowed £5,000 for treatments so far but says she cannot afford to fund further courses.

The court heard the cost of Herceptin is £21,800 per patient per year.

The PCT was ordered by the High Court last December to continue funding Herceptin pending the outcome of her legal challenge.

At the start of the two-day case before Mr Justice Bean in London yesterday, Ms Rogers' counsel, Ian Wise, accused the Swindon PCT of operating an "arbitrary, irrational and unlawful'' policy which went against a direction and guidelines given by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt.

He argued that the PCT's policy breached Ms Rogers' right to life under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the right to respect for her private life under Article 8 and that Swindon's approach also gave rise to a postcode lottery.

Ms Rogers has been unable to carry on working since her treatment.

She first noticed a lump on her breast in October 2004.

She went to her GP the following day and was given an appointment for a mammogram at the Great Western Hospital.

On January 18 last year she had a mastectomy, breast reconstruction and auxiliary surgery followed by a course of chemotherapy until July.

In the meantime her son discovered on the internet that there was a type of breast cancer, known as HER-2.

This could be treated by Herceptin which Ms Rogers had.

Philip Havers QC, for the trust, told the court: "The trust has great sympathy for Ms Rogers and other patients with breast cancer.'' But he said it hoped to demonstrate that the position it took in her case "was not unlawful'' and was in line with similar policies operated by other PCTs.

Herceptin is a drug designed to attack specific cancer cells while leaving healthy cells.

The hearing was adjourned until today.