The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice), which decides what drugs should be used by the NHS, has released a preliminary report about four new drugs which would not be recommended as a treatment option.

Kettering resident Jane Benstead, 43, was diagnosed with cancer in October 2005.

Seven months later, despite having a kidney removed, she was told the cancer had spread to the rest of her body including her lungs.

For the last year she has been taking Sunitinib – one of four drugs which Nice is not recommending.

However, since Mrs Benstead has been taking the drug it has more than halved the size of her cancerous tumours.

She said: "When I was originally diagnosed with cancer I thought it would just be a case of having the kidney removed and that would

be the end of it. It was horrendous when I heard that it had spread elsewhere in my body."

Mrs Benstead, a former nurse, said she was initially taking a different drug to battle the cancer.

She said: "I had to have injections three times a week and the side effects were horrible.

"Then about a year ago I started taking Sunitinib, which is just one tablet every day. I know it doesn't work for everyone but for me it's made a big difference. I just want other cancer suffers to have the choice of being able to take it."

Mrs Benstead said Pfizer, which makes Sunitinib, offers one course of treatment free.

But the drug costs £3,363 for a six-week treatment programme and people who currently take it, including Mrs Benstead, will continue to receive and have it funded by their primary care trust.

On Wednesday she will join other people from Oxford who are taking their protest to Nice's headquarters in London where they will hand over letters of objection.

The James Whale Fund, which has organised the event, is providing funding for a coach.

A Nice spokesman said: "Although these treatments are clinically effective, regrettably, the cost to the NHS is such that they are not a cost-effective use of NHS resources. Two manufacturers have developed proposals which may have the effect of reducing the cost of the drugs.

We will be happy to consider these proposals once they have been considered suitable for the NHS by the Department of Health."