An Acton mum with advanced breast cancer is appealing for help to continue treatment which could extend her life after raising around a third of the £55,000 needed to help fund it.
Mehrnaz Ansari, 46, has already started treatment with Enhertu, also known as trastuzumab deruxtecan, after money raised through a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign helped her access the drug privately. Her family is now trying to raise the remaining funds towards around six cycles of treatment.
Enhertu was recommended by her oncology team at The Royal Marsden but is not routinely available on the NHS in England for patients with her type of cancer.
Mehrnaz was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, aged 37, when her daughter was just 18 months old. After undergoing surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy and targeted treatments, her cancer has since spread.
The GoFundMe campaign was launched by her niece Sara Fereidooni last month (18 June 2026). Mehrnaz received her first treatment earlier this month (10 July 2026), with Ms Fereidooni saying in an update to supporters that it had gone well.
She said: “We’re so relieved to have reached this milestone, and it simply wouldn’t have been possible without your incredible generosity and support.”
The campaign says Enhertu costs approximately £8,719 per treatment cycle and is given every 21 days. As of today (23 July 2026), £18,327 had been raised – around a third of the £55,000 target.
The fundraising target is intended to provide a bridge while Mehrnaz and her oncology team explore other treatment options, rather than to fund Enhertu indefinitely.
Mehrnaz remains an NHS patient, with scans, blood tests, monitoring, treatment administration and clinical oversight continuing through the NHS. The money raised is intended to cover the privately funded treatment and associated costs.
Mehrnaz said: “I am fighting for moments. For the chance to watch my daughter grow up a little longer. For more birthdays. For more hugs. For more laughter around the dinner table. For more bedtime conversations. For more opportunities to tell her how proud I am of her.
“I want to be there when she needs a shoulder to cry on. I want to hold her hand through life’s challenges. I want her to know that no matter what happens, her mother never stopped fighting to stay by her side.”
Enhertu has been at the centre of a long-running campaign over access to treatment for people with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Now has been campaigning for the drug to become available on the NHS in England after it was rejected for routine use in 2024 on cost-effectiveness grounds.
The charity says the treatment is available to eligible patients in Scotland and in a number of other countries and has called for drug manufacturers Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca, NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to reach an agreement over access in England.
Mehrnaz’s fundraiser says her cancer is HER2-low and that she has undergone multiple treatments since her original diagnosis.
Ms Fereidooni, who is only three years younger than her aunt and says they grew up more like sisters, said: “I want her to live for as long as possible. Knowing this treatment may give us more time together, I cannot sit back and do nothing.
“Watching someone you love fight cancer for years is incredibly painful. I have seen Mehrnaz’s strength, courage, and determination through every difficult stage of this journey. We are not asking for a cure. We are asking for more time.
“More time for a mother and daughter to make memories together. More time for birthdays. More time for conversations. More time for life.”
