• 5/9/2007
  • Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
  • staff
  • Scotsman.com

A new drug treatment doctors say could help save the lives of head and neck cancer patients has been given the go-ahead.

Taxotere, which is used to treat sufferers of the aggressive cancer, has been recommended for use by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).

Trials found that patients taking the drug along with their regular treatment had a 30 per cent lower risk of mortality than those receiving the standard treatment alone.

Dr Elizabeth Junor, consultant clinical oncologist at Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital, said: “Compared with some other tumours, there are fewer treatment options for head and neck cancer.

“This SMC recommendation will mean that more patients can now get this new treatment combination.

“We hope it will result in many more lives being saved across Scotland.”

Around 760 people in the UK are diagnosed with head and neck cancer each year, which can affect the mouth, tongue and throat.