SCIENTISTS have praised the bravery of North-East patients who tested a remarkable new cancer treatment.

Thirty-three patients with various types of advanced cancer were "guinea-pigs" in the first experimental phase of a promising drug developed by Newcastle scientists.

Yesterday, cancer experts declared that the first phase of the trial had been a success, paving the way for tests involving breast and ovarian cancer patients.

The announcement will be welcome news for thousands of cancer patients, although it will be many years before the drugs could be licensed for widespread use.

The trial was funded by Cancer Research UK to establish whether it was safe to give humans the drug, jointly developed by Newcastle scientists and the Pfizer pharmaceutical company.

Scientists at the Northern Institute of Cancer Research, at Newcastle University, found that the drug, called Parp inhibitors, helped reduce the size of tumours in five patients by up to 50 per cent.

Professor Herbie Newell told the National Cancer Research Institute annual conference, in Birmingham, that the results were extremely encouraging.

Professor Steve Jackson, who is leading a separate study at the Cancer Research UK laboratories at the University of Cambridge, said his trial was going according to plan, but it was too early to give results.

After the promising early results, Cancer Research UK has given the second stage of the trial the go-ahead.

Professor Alan Ashworth, of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre, said he wanted to pay tribute to the altruism of North-East cancer patients who had agreed to take part in the first trial.

"These are people who have run out of therapy options, who are willing to go on a trial to help others," he said.

Prof Newell echoed this sentiment, saying: "We are always very grateful to the patients who volunteer to take part in our trials. We recognise it is a very difficult time for them."

The institute was set up by Newcastle University with funding from Cancer Research UK.

When it was opened earlier this year by cancer survivor and former England and Newcastle United manager Sir Bobby Robson, Prof Newell said the object was to produce a new cancer drug every year.

Earlier this year, scientists said Parp inhibitors could be way of fighting inherited forms of the disease, such as breast cancer.

The drug fights tumours linked to faulty genes which lack the essential DNA "repair kit" in cells that prevent cancer developing.

While treatment such as chemotherapy has been likened to "carpet bombing", causing unwanted side effects such as hair loss or nausea, better understanding of the molecular make-up of cancer cells could lead to more precise treatments, which attack the "Achilles heel" of diseased cells.

It could also lead to new treatments for stroke, heart disease and arthritis.

The Newcastle clinical trial was led by Professor Hilary Calvert and Dr Ruth Plummer and the laboratory research was carried out by Dr Nicola Curtin.

News of the breakthrough came a day after a cancer sufferer won the right to be prescribed a new cancer treatment.

Nurse Barbara Clark forced her local primary care trust to give her early access to Herceptin on the NHS.

Last night, one leading cancer scientist warned that the system for assessing whether new drugs should be funded by the NHS needed overhauling to avoid delays in the future.

There were claims that bureaucratic hold-ups over the licensing of Herceptin were costing the lives of a 1,000 women every year.

At present, Herceptin is only licensed for advanced breast cancer, despite evidence that it can help many women in the early stages of the disease.

Prof Ashworth said the Herceptin saga was "a matter of great concern."

"For every year's delay in prescribing Herceptin, a thousand women will lose their lives," he said.

"We really need to push this process so that new drugs are licensed quickly."