It saddens me that cancer patients in the UK don't always benefit from the research they funded

Professor Gordon McVie

This is despite the fact that the drug is commonly prescribed elsewhere in the world.

Clinical trials show that Temodal is effective against a form of brain cancer called malignant glioma and for treating malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer.

Total sales of the drug in the USA have reached nearly $130m since its launch in 1999 mostly for the treatment of melanoma.

This is 27 times greater than equivalent figures for the UK.

Britain trails in a poor eighth behind the US, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Greece and Canada.

More freedom

The drug has not yet been registered for treating melanoma in Europe or the USA, but because American doctors have more freedom to chose which drugs they prescribe, it is still being given to treat the disease.

Professor Gordon McVie says British patients are missing out

In the UK, National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) finally gave approval for the drug in 2001 - two years after it was launched.

And then it was only approved for treating glioma when traditional therapies have failed.

Professor Gordon McVie, CRC director general, said: "We know that Temodal works and that it offers better quality of life than traditional drugs but many British patients who would benefit from it are still denied the treatment.

"It saddens me that cancer patients in the UK don't always benefit from the research they funded.

"British doctors know the drug is effective and want to prescribe it but their hands are tied by NICE guidelines."

UK research

The drug was first produced in 1980 by researchers at Aston University and since then it has been perfected and trialled by scientists across the country.

It is currently showing promise in the treatment of a number of cancers, including brain cancer in children.

Sales of Temodal

USA: $129m Germany: $27m Italy: $24.6m France: $11.7m Spain: $7m Greece: $6.4m Canada: $4.7m UK: $4.6m

Professor Ed Newlands, an oncologist at Charing Cross Hospital, said: "Temodal has been one of cancer research's great success stories.

"We know from extensive clinical trials that it's an effective drug which has fewer side effects than its competitors and can be taken as a tablet by patients in their homes.

"Yet it was only this year that NICE guidelines finally allowed me to give the treatment and even now only when other treatments have failed."

Brain tumour sufferer, Philip Newcombe, 43, from Petts Wood, Kent, was diagnosed with the disease in 1998.

He underwent surgery, radiotherapy and - because he had private health care - was one of the lucky ones to receive Temodal.

He said: "The drug stopped the tumour spreading and has allowed me and my family to go back to living a normal life.

"Every extra minute I've been able to spend with my children and my wife has been precious.

"For drugs like Temodal that are having this much of a dramatic effect, the cost should not come into it at all."