SCIENTISTS in the region have announced the stunning results of a new treatment for leukaemia.

A team at Newcastle University has shown that by combining two drugs they can virtually stop chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in its tracks.

About 800 Britons are diagnosed with this form of leukaemia every year. Until now, the only cure had been risky bone marrow transplants.

The results were announced by Dr Stephen O'Brien at a conference in Florida.

It is the second major breakthrough announced by the Newcastle team leading the drug trials.

At the end of November, Dr O'Brien announced that about half of the CML patients given the newly-licensed drug Glivec were in remission.

Now a second trial, combining Glivec with a form of interferon called PEG Intron, normally used to treat hepatitis, has produced even better results.

"When we gave the combination of drugs to newly diagnosed patients, 82 per cent of them responded to treatment," said Dr O'Brien, a consultant haematologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

In the case of patients who had tried other drugs prior to the trial, but without success, the remission rate after taking the combined drugs was 62 per cent.

Where it was successful, the patient's blood cells returned to near-normal, suggesting that the disease was being held at bay.

"Although it is a very small trial, involving 49 patients, the results are very encouraging," said Dr O'Brien, who lectures in haematology.

The drugs work by targeting the cancer cells, leaving healthy cells undamaged.

"This is a wake-up call to cancer specialists because no one thought this would work. It has been a remarkable success," said Dr O'Brien, who is planning to lead a much bigger Glivec-PEG Intron trial involving 3,000 patients internationally.

He predicted that a similar approach could eventually pay dividends in the fight against major killers such as lung and breast cancer.

Dr O'Brien said the Newcastle team had reported the trial results ahead of rival teams in Italy, France and the US.

"We have been in a bit of a race but we beat them," he said.

Newcastle website designers Webworks gave the North-East scientists the edge by devising the world's first Internet-based drug trial reporting system.

"The work done by Webworks meant that we could collect results within days, rather than months," added Dr O'Brien.

The results suggest patients may be able to lead normal lives by taking regular medication.

Dr O'Brien said the large international trial should get under way next year.

Leukaemia patient June Hand, 40, from Crook, County Durham, said she felt "great" after being given the combined treatment.