LEUKAEMIA sufferers in the region may have to move to Scotland to get access to a life-saving new drug, a leading expert has warned.

A decision by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (Nice) has placed restrictions on the use of a revolutionary drug in England.

Yet the same drug, Glivec, can be widely prescribed north of the border

Dr Stephen O'Neill, a consultant haematologist who ran a pioneering Glivec trial at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI), in Newcastle, said the decision was "illogical and wrong".

He has written to Nice urging it to reconsider its position before a final verdict on Glivec is due in August.

The British Society of Haematologists is also calling for the drug to be used as early as possible.

So far, about 150 patients have been treated with Glivec at the RVI. In most cases the patients appear to be cured of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).

If Nice confirms its policy later this summer Dr O'Neill fears it will become difficult for English patients to get early access to the life-saving drug.

"If that happens, if you live in the North-East and you have the disease, the best thing is to go and live in Edinburgh.

"It is postcode rationing at its worst," said Dr O'Neill, who knows of at least two patients who have already moved to Scotland so they can be given Glivec on the NHS.

Glivec, which costs £18,000 per patient per year, has astonished leukaemia experts by its high success rate.

Scientists at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Florida were told this week that Glivec can eradicate CML in 69 per cent of cases, compared with the 11 per cent success rate of standard chemotherapy.

However, despite this clear-cut evidence, a committee of experts commissioned by Nice has suggested that the drug should only be prescribed to patients in the latter stages of their illness.

Dr O'Brien said the drug is so effective it should be given to everyone who is diagnosed with CML.

"It is like waiting until the house is nearly burnt down before you start fighting the fire," he said.

Nice says the drug should be restricted to patients who have the middle, accelerated phase of CML.

Specialists say treatment should begin as soon as possible