Prostate trial drug like 'magic'

Richard Pflaum was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 2004. In 2007, after chemotherapy, he was put on a drug trial. Within weeks his physical pain had subsided.

The trials involved more than 1,000 men with very aggressive cancers, whose prognosis was poor, with only months left to live.

Researchers have found the drug, abiraterone acetate extended, life by an average of four months.

They hope that in less advanced cases, the benefits could be greater.

The drug's makers, the pharmaceutical firm Janssen, are now seeking a licence which would allow it to be used on the NHS.

More than 36,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the UK - more than 10,000 die from the disease.