It’s very likely that Kadcyla is keeping Julie alive, but – because of its toxicity – her body may soon require a break. She would then be able to go back on the drug and continue her treatment, only by that point, Kadcyla may no longer be available. That’s because the Cancer Drugs Fund is coming up to a review, after which Kadcyla is likely to be removed as an option for patients in the UK, deemed too expensive for the NHS (it costs up to £90,000 for 14 months' treatment). “You can’t put that feeling into words,” says Julie, “it’s like hope is going to be taken away.” Along with Herceptin, Kadcyla is produced by Roche, and is one of the drugs that activists at this morning’s protests wanted to make some noise about. If Roche can be convinced to drop the price of Kadcyla, NICE (the independent body which evaluates which drugs can be provided on the NHS) is more likely to approve it for routine use. Julie recently met with the head of Roche at the offices of Breast Cancer Now to set out her case. A petition, which calls for Roche to rethink its pricing strategy and has been signed by over 100,000 people, has also been presented to the company. It remains to be seen whether Roche and the other pharmaceutical companies manufacturing drugs like Herceptin and Kadcyla drop the prices. In the meantime, Julie reminds us that HER2 positive cancers are most likely to target young mothers like herself, who may have children and elderly parents who need looking after. “Everybody responds differently to these drugs, but it’s been shown that they can give you another six months to live and it’s a good-quality six months," she says. "Yes, you have a chronic illness, but you still want to live your life. This drug can enable people to do that.”