A REVOLUTIONARY new "cure" for leukaemia pioneered in the North-East has been licensed, giving new hope to thousands of patients.

Glivec, a new wonder pill which seeks out and kills leukaemia cells, was first tried out in the UK at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary two years ago.

Now, after the successful launch of Glivec, doctors at the RVI have revealed that the region is playing the leading role in a follow-up trial, to see whether a combination of Glivec with the anti-cancer drug interferon can yield even better results.

Dr Stephen O'Brien, a consultant haematologist at the RVI, said the new trial was a world-first on two counts - it was the first to combine the two drugs, and the first to report results through the Internet.

The early signs from the follow-up trial "made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I saw them," said Dr O'Brien.

A third-wave trial is also planned, with the RVI leading an international study involving 3,000 patients, comparing whether Glivec works better on its own or combined with interferon.

Leukaemia patient June Hand, 40, from Crook, County Durham, is the first person in the world to receive the combined Glivec-interferon treatment.

"I feel great, I am in remission and the tests show that the signs of leukaemia have gone," said Mrs Hand, who has four children, including a two- year-old boy born after test tube treatment.

The way patients have responded to Glivec in the first trial has been so spectacular that the Department of Health has stepped in to fund treatment for patients already receiving the drug.

Virtually all of the patients treated with Glivec appear to be cured of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), a common form of the disease which affects about 4,000 Britons.

A form of cancer, CML makes the white blood cells reproduce uncontrollably, crowding out the oxygen-carrying red blood cells and killing the patient within five years of diagnosis.

Glivec works by targeting the leukaemia cells, leaving surrounding healthy cells untouched.

Many patients have no side-effects at all.

While the long-term outcome is still not known, scientists suspect that patients will be able to keep their illness at bay by taking only four pills a day.

Before the new drug was developed, the only hope for CML sufferers was to undergo a risky bone marrow transplant.

Theoretically, the £17,000-a-year drug can now be prescribed to the 800 or so new cases of CML seen in the UK every year.

But the immense cost of treatment is bound to cause headaches for health authorities, and the drug has been referred to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, which will decide whether prescribing on the NHS is justified.

Dr O'Brien admitted he was "elated" at the success of the new treatment.

"There is no precedent for this kind of treatment in cancer therapy," he said. "We may be able to control leukaemia for years in the same way that we control diabetes - it is quite revolutionary."

In September 1999, the Newcastle hospital became the first in the UK to offer Glivec - then called ST1571 - to patients as part of an international trial.

Hammersmith Hospital in London joined the trial shortly afterward and in the last year 12 other UK centres have been involved.

Dr O'Brien estimates that about 150 patients have been involved in leukaemia drug trials at the RVI.

Mrs Hand went to her GP last December complaining of tiredness and a pain down her left side.

"I thought it was to do with the strain of looking after a young baby," she said.

After she was diagnosed with leukaemia, Dr O'Brien told her she had two alternatives - wait for a bone marrow transplant or try a combination of Glivec and interferon.

"I feel very honoured and so grateful," said Mrs Hand.

"I have been in remission for three months now. I have had tremendous support, and I just hope that by taking part in this trial I will give hope to others," she added