A CONSULTANT from the North-East has described a new drug - Perjeta - as "the biggest single step forward" in the treatment of breast cancer for more than a decade.

Now licensed by the European Medicines Agency the new drug can be prescribed by doctors across the UK.

Dr Mark Verrill, a cancer specialist from the Freeman Hospital , in Newcastle who was involved in trials of the new drug, said: "Today's approval of Perjeta marks an important and much anticipated advance for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer."

While it has not been assessed for mainstream NHS use by the drug watchdog Nice (National Institute for health and Clinical Effectiveness) it could be prescribed by NHS cancer specialists who successfully apply to their local Cancer Drug Fund administrators.

Dr Verrill added: "Perjeta is very effective in HER2-positive disease - extending patients' lives and keeping the cancer at bay for significantly longer than current standards of care.

"It represents the biggest single step forward in treatment since the introduction of Herceptin, more than a decade ago."

Perjeta is the first in a new type of drug called HDIs, which can block the growth of cancerous cells.

Experts say the new drug could benefit the 140,000 British women with HER2-positive breast cancer.

HER2 is a protein found on the surface of cells which can encourage the disease to spread. In HER2-positive breast cancer, there are too many HER2 receptors on the surface of cancerous cells, which lead to raid growth and spread of the tumour.

HER2-positive breast cancer accounts for up to 25 per cent of all breast cancers.

Patients are given Perjeta, combined with Herceptin and docetaxel.