A MAJOR breakthrough in the treatment of brain cancer has been pioneered by a Bolton man.

The new brain cancer drug, officially unveiled by the Cancer Research Campaign today, has been developed by former Bolton School pupil Professor Malcolm Stevens.

Hailed as the most important brain cancer treatment for 20 years, the drug Temozolomide has just been licensed and will be available on the NHS next month.

The new drug is unique because, unlike most other cancer treatments, it can filter through the brain's protective barrier.

It will also be available in capsule form, making it as easy to take as aspirin.

In trials Temozolomide not only boosted survival but also cut the debilitating side-effects associated with conventional treatment.

Repair

It works by damaging DNA in brain cancer cells which, unlike other cells in the body, find this damage hard to repair and so "commit suicide".

It has now been registered as Temodal in a deal with pharmaceutical company Schering Plough. The Cancer Research Campaign will receive substantial royalties from sales of the drug.

Prof Stevens said: "Decades of hard work by dozens of Campaign scientists and doctors across the country have finally paid off."

Prof Stevens, who is now head of the Cancer Research Campaign Laboratories at Nottingham University, first spotted the potential of the drug with the help of Prof Ed Newlands at London's Charing Cross Hospital.

Further trials being carried out on the drug include ones to treat the most serious form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma.

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