WENDY Bryant, the grandmother of terminally-ill Charlotte Wakeham, has welcomed the launch of a clinical trial to assess if a drug Charlotte has been taking could cure brain cancer.

The trial of chloripramine, an anti- depressant drug, involving 100 adult patients, was launched on Tuesday at the University of Portsmouth.

Ms Bryant, of Devizes, was invited to attend because she has been in close contact with the organisers of the trial, the Samantha Dickson Research Trust based in Hampshire, but did not go as she and her family are struggling to come to terms with the deterioration in Charlotte's condition.

Doctors told Charlotte's family that the eight-year-old, who lives with her family in Westbury, has two to three months to live following a sudden decline in her health.

Ms Bryant said yesterday: "I couldn't go to the launch of the trial, unfortunately, because I was feeling too down about Charlotte and how it's affecting the whole family."

Charlotte's family are awaiting the result of a blood test which will determine whether they seek additional treatment for her.

She beat the medics' original prognosis of four months when she was diagnosed with brain stem glioma, a rare form of brain cancer, in May 2002.

Ms Bryant believes a daily dose of chloripramine has extended Charlotte's life. Anecdotal evidence from some 250 people, including Charlotte, have reported reductions of tumours and increased survival times as a result of using chloripramine.