PATIENTS from East Lancashire have acted as "guinea pigs" in trials of a revolutionary new drug to fight the killer Motor Neurone Disease, it was revealed today.

Professor Douglas Mitchell, a consultant neurologist at the Royal Preston Hospital, today unveiled the first major breakthrough in the fight against the condition for more than 100 years.

Despite not being a cure, Rilutek has been found to increase sufferers' lifespans by more than 35 per cent and is the first clinically effective MND drug to be licensed.

About 25 new cases a year are treated at the neurology unit in Preston.

Professor Mitchell said: "Motor Neurone Disease is one of the most devastating conditions known to medical science. It kills more people every day than AIDS and no drug hitherto has been shown to modify the course of the disease. "Nobody is saying this drug is a cure, but it is the first chink in the armour.

"The real hope is that it will lead to more effective treatments, as chemotherapy did for cancer."

Licensing of Rilutek comes at the end of a three-year clinical trial involving 30 neurology centres worldwide, including Preston.

At Preston 24 patients, including several from East Lancashire, entered the initial trial.

Professor Mitchell said patients were keen to extend their lives despite the crippling course of the disease.

"Many of these people live remarkably full lives despite suffering from a major disability," he added.

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