Cancer patients denied vital drugs are being condemned to inferior treatment and an earlier death, warn specialists.

A group of cancer consultants said the decision by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) to limit the use of three drugs for advanced colorectal cancer was stopping them improving the lives of patients.

In a letter to the Telegraph the 28 senior hospital consultants accused NICE of "misrepresenting the evidence" on the drugs.

Dr Rob Glynne-Jones, a signatory of the letter and medical director of the charity Colon Cancer Concern, told the BBC that the "powerful drugs" undoubtedly prolonged lives.

It is a major retrograde step

The consultants

"They are powerful drugs which kill cancer cells.

"They probably double the likelihood of them (patients) responding to treatment"

Restrictions

But he said that tight restrictions on the use of irinotecan, oxaliplatin and raltitrexed, meant many patients were not getting them at the earliest possible opportunity.

Medical oncologist Dr Paul Mainwaring is one the signatories.

He said that using a single drug would extend the patients life by 10 months; using two of the drugs could extend it by 16 months and all three could lead to an extra two years.

Dr Glynne-Jones and the other signatories have called for the government to carry out an urgent review of the NICE decision.

They said that unless the decision is reversed Britain will be left lagging behind the rest of Europe and the States.

Each year 30,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer and 16,000 die.

The consultants condemned the NICE decision and said: "We believe, on the basis of high quality clinical trials, that this decision will condemn NHS patients with this cancer to inferior treatment and reduced life expectancy.

"It is a major retrograde step."

Medical oncologist Dr Paul Mainwaring signed the letter.

He told the BBC: "These drugs are available in Europe, and in France the average lifespan of a patient with the same disease is twice that of a patient in the UK.

"We would like all patients to have the best treatment available to them."

Cost

In March NICE said that irinotecan and oxaliplatin should not be used as first line treatment for advanced colorectal cancer even though they are licensed for this in the UK with an established drug 5FU.

They added that the third drug raltitrexed should only be used in clinical trials.

But that oxaliplatin with 5FU could be used for patients whose cancer had spread to their liver.

The cancers have been shown to shrink tumours making surgery possible.

NICE added that if 5FU failed, irinotecan could then be used.

The newer drugs cost �1,200 per patient a year, compared to the �70 of more traditional treatments

Options

Anne-Toni Rodgers, director of communications at NICE said: "Rather than deny treatment the NICE guidance will increase access to oxaliplatin and irinotecan for those patients across England and Wales who will benefit from their use.

"The guidance will increase NHS spending on these drugs by around �41million each year.

"Patients with liver tumours may be treated with oxaliplatin first line to shrink the tumours enough for surgery; and irinotecan may be added to established chemotherapy as the disease progresses, finally we have actively encouraged doctors to enrol NHS patients who they believe would benefit from either of these drugs as a first line treatment in ongoing clinical trials that the Medical Research Council established because of existing uncertainty surrounding such first line treatment.

"NICE will be considering the results of this trial when it reviews its guidance in 2005."