Newcastle Cancer Trials Speed Up Treatment

24 September 2013, 06:50 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A new drug for breast cancer patients that's been tested in Newcastle will be made available across the country today.

The new injection will take less than 5 minutes - compared to the current treatment which lasts over an hour.

Herceptin used to be given in a treatment that took up to an hour but will now be given via an injection.

It was trialled at the Northern Centre for Cancer care and is expected to save the NHS millions of pounds.

Hannah Bridges from Breakthrough Breast Cancer has told Capital more about the benefits.

She says:
"Herceptin is often given for at least a year.

Patients can often be going into hospital once a week or once every 3 weeks, so it's great news that they'll be able to cut down on the amount of time they're in hospital.

It's also great news for the NHS because this will save time and money too."