A £50M fund to buy cutting edge cancer drugs comes into force today giving fresh hope to North-East sufferers – as the Government hinted that more money could be made available.

The move has been hailed as a breakthrough by cancer charities which have predicted it will extend the lives of hundreds of patients.

It could mean an end to the apparently endless succession of desperate patients featured in The Northern Echo in recent years denied access to life-extending cancer drugs because they cost too much to be prescribed on the NHS.

Following Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s announcement in July, an extra £50m will now be available across the country to help patients get increased access to new cancer drugs that extend life and improve quality of life.

Doctor-led panels have been set up in each region, putting doctors in charge of how these funds are spent locally.

Last night, the Department of Health made it clear to The Northern Echo that the new panels will have the power to over-ride guidance from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) where it is not recommending the drug for NHS use because of cost concerns.

Yesterday’s announcement by the Department of Health also raises expectations that the rest of the £200m extra cancer drug money promised by the Conservatives before the election will be made available from April.

However, this is subject to a consultation following the publication of the Comprehensive Spending Review later this month.

John Pagella, 76, from Bolam, near Darlington, has been refused access by the NHS to a drug called azacitidine which is widely available in Europe and America and has been shown to extend lives. It costs more than £45,000 a year and is not costeffective, according to Nice.

Last night, the retired businessman, who suffers from a rare form of bone marrow cancer, said he was waiting to find out whether his consultant could make a fresh application for funding for the drug.

Mr Pagella said he expected the Government to keep its word and put the extra £150m into the cancer drug fund next April.

His wife, Kathy, said: “I really feel strongly that patients like John should not have to fight for their lives like this.”