MORE than 200 North-East cancer patients will benefit from extra NHS funding for drugs.

The move follows the Government’s decision to allocate an extra £50m to health authorities nationwide.

The North-East’s share of the fund is £2.8m, while Yorkshire and the Humber has been given an extra £5.3m.

It is the first step towards making a greater range of expensive cancer drugs available on the NHS, even if they have been turned down by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) on the grounds of cost-effectiveness.

The North of England Cancer Drug Approvals Group (Necdag) last night named seven cancer treatments rejected by Nice that it is now prepared to fund.

It means cancer specialists with patients who may benefit can apply for funding.

Similar arrangements are being made in Yorkshire and the Humber, although a list of recommended drugs is still under discussion.

One of the drugs approved by the North-East group is Azacytidine, also known as Vidaza.

Kathy Pagella, whose husband, John, 76, from Bolam, near Darlington, was turned down for the drug earlier this year, said: “I am absolutely delighted.

I just cannot believe it. I want to thank The Northern Echo for highlighting my husband’s case.”

Mr Pagella, who has a lifethreatening form of bone marrow cancer called myeloid dyspastic syndromes was turned down for Azacytidine by NHS County Durham and Darlington this year.

Azacytidine, which can slow the disease’s progression, is widely available across Europe and the US, but was turned down by Nice because it costs more than £45,000 a year per patient.

The other drugs approved for use in the North-East are: Everolimus, also known as Afinitor, used for renal cancer after initial treatment has failed; Sorafenib (Nexavar) for primary liver cancer; Zevalin for follicular lymphoma, a blood cancer; Lapatinib (Tyverb) for advanced breast cancer; and Bevacizumab (Avastin) as an initial treatment for advanced bowel cancer and for patients with breast cancer who do not respond to hormone or Herceptin treatment.

Necdag chairman Ken Bremner said: “None of these treatments will cure patients, but their availability means that clinicians can now discuss using them with those patients who they feel would benefit.”