PRESSURE was mounting on the Government last night over a new wonder drug, pioneered in the North-East, after it was shown it can "cure" two different cancers.

Whether NHS patients can have Glivec will be up to an independent panel of experts set up by the Government.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) is already under intense pressure to approve the funding of the drug for the treatment of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Now NICE will face fresh calls from cancer doctors to give the go-ahead for Glivec to be used throughout the NHS after it was shown that the drug can treat a previously incurable form of cancer called GIST (gastrointestinal stromal tumours).

Coincidentally, MPs on the Commons health committee will today call for the Department of Health to accept responsibility for the "rationing" of expensive drugs, rather than leaving NICE open to unfair criticism.

Three years ago, leukaemia patients at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle were the first in the UK to benefit from the remarkable properties of Glivec.

And earlier this year a large international trial confirmed that Glivec can apparently cure seven out ten chronic myeloid leukaemia sufferers.

Glivec was approved for UK use for leukaemia treatment earlier this year, and can be used for treating GIST from today. But it is currently not funded by the NHS in England and Wales.

The Scottish equivalent of NICE has approved the drug for NHS use for leukaemia.

The issue of NICE approval led to North-East leukaemia sufferer Ann Tittley, 55, from Newton Aycliffe, to write to Prime Minister Tony Blair asking why she is being denied a life-saving drug pioneered in the North-East but so far only available in Scotland.

Now patients at Newcastle General Hospital have benefitted from the second UK trial of Glivec, this time used to bring new hope to patients suffering from GIST.

The manufacturers, Novartis, say that following treatment with the new drug, which disables specific enzymes, or "chemical messengers" that play an important role in the growth of these tumours, more than eight out of ten GIST patients have shown "significant improvements" in their condition.

The 80 per cent success rate was confirmed at a meeting of American cancer specialists two months ago.

Last night, a Novartis spokeswoman said Glivec is also being given to patients with other forms of cancer in an effort to find how many more applications the new drug may have.

Dr Mark Verrill, a consultant medical oncologist at Newcastle General, said: "This is an exceptional drug. We have gone from nothing to this amazing response. It is quite stunning."

He explained that before Glivec became available as part of clinical trials there was virtually nothing that could be done for GIST sufferers.

"A year ago, if we saw a patient with this disease they would have a 50 per cent chance of being alive in a year and a much lower chance after two years," said Dr Verrill. "Now the great majority of patients, 80 per cent, are alive after a year."

Professor Ian Judson, of the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, said: "Until recently we had no effective treatment for these patients, many of whom died within a year.

"In contrast, we can now be confident that the majority of patients receiving Glivec will respond to treatment."