Scottish patients with cancer are still facing a treatment lottery despite promises to increase access to life-extending drugs, campaigners have warned.

Research by the charity Beating Bowel Cancer has found that, while many boards have increased approvals of expensive treatments since the Scottish Government ordered them to be more flexible, in other areas it remained static or decreased and wide variations remained.

It said that, in the case of advanced bowel cancer, only a tiny proportion of patients were getting access to treatment to extend their lives.

The charity called for urgent action to abolish the postcode lottery of treatment access once and for all.

For more details, go to: http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/scottish-cancer-sufferers-denied-life-saving-drugs-1-3457169