Bicalutamide

A NEW prostate cancer drug could save 3,000 lives in Britain each year, experts said today.

They claim the first longterm trials of the new drug bicalutamide have shown it can increase survival rates by up to a third.

Every year about 30,000 British men are diagnosed with prostate cancer - the most common cancer for men which causes around 10,000 deaths annually.

The majority of prostate cancers are slow growing and many men are unaware they have the disease. However, a small number of prostate cancers grow more quickly and may spread to other parts of the body.

The new drug stops this spread by altering hormonal balance, stopping the cancer's ability to take over other cells.

Researchers at AstraZeneca told the European Cancer Conference in Paris that they found it increased survival rates by nearly 31 per cent when the drug was given in addition to radiotherapy.

Where the cancer did return, it was also found to increase the lifespan of patients by an average three years during the seven- year study of more than 8,000 people.

. Breast cancer drug Herceptin is far more effective than previously thought in treating women suffering the early stages of the disease, experts told the conference.

Professor Michael Untch of the Ludwig Maximallans University in Munich and his team were so amazed by the success of the drug they released their results early.

"We still have an ongoing study so it could be the results are even more impressive," he said. It re-ignited the debate over whether the drug should be made available on the NHS.

(c)2005. Associated Newspapers Ltd.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.