A “SMART” drug that attacks tumours on two fronts is available today, offering hope for thousands of cancer patients.

Sutent has been licensed to treat two deadly cancers affecting the kidneys and gut. Early trials suggest that it may also be effective against breast, lung and pancreatic cancers.

The “smart” drug aims to build on the huge success of Glivec, which acts by inhibiting a key enzyme that signals cells to multiply and which is overactive in some cancers.

In addition, Sutent starves tumours of the nutrients they need to develop by preventing the growth of blood vessels. It is the first drug to combine both these modes of action.

It is one of at least three Glivec-like drugs that are at various stages of development, and which cancer specialists expect to prove useful in treating different kinds of tumours.

Glivec has transformed the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia and of a rare form of stomach cancer since its introduction in 2001.

Sutrent’s licence covers its use in kidney cancer and in treating gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST), a rare cancer diagnosed in about 900 people a year in the UK.

In trials against advanced kidney cancer that had not responded to conventional drugs, Sutent caused tumours to shrink in 40 per cent of patients, and in a further 28 per cent they stabilised. Kidney cancer affects about 6,600 people in the UK every year.

Paul Nathan, a consultant oncologist at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood, Northwest London, said: “We have a couple of hundred new kidney cancer patients each year. I’d expect to treat about 50 each year with Sutent.

“This drug and others like it, we think, are a very major advance in the treatment of this disease.”

Sutent is also licensed for GIST, the treatment of which has been revolutionised by Glivec. In cases where the tumours become resistant to Glivec, Sutent quadrupled progression-free survival from six weeks to six months. In a third of cases, the disease stabilised.

Judith Robinson, from the charity GIST Support UK, said: “Sutent is the first drug shown to be effective in patients with advanced GIST where the current standard of care has failed. For patients it can offer precious extra months of life.”

The new drug is not cheap, at about £2,400 per patient per month — slightly cheaper than Glivec. Cost pressures in the NHS may limit its use.

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