Thousands of men with advanced prostate cancer are being offered a pill that cuts the risk of death by a third

Thousands of men with advanced prostate cancer are being offered a pill that could cut their risk of death by a third.

Experts claim the drug olaparib represents a lifeline for men with the most treatment-resistant form of the disease.

It comes just days after treatment for advanced ovarian cancer was given the green light after studies showed it could cut the risk of death by two-thirds.

Research has shown that it can significantly slow the progression of prostate cancer.

Men who took the drug in addition to the hormone treatment abiraterone had their cancer under control for an average of eight months longer than men who took the hormone drug alone – and their risk of death also dropped by 34 percent.

The combination is now available to men after NHS spending watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved the treatment last week.

Prof Noel Clarke, consultant urologist at The Christie in Manchester, said it brought a “real, significant benefit”.

He added: “We have not seen such an improvement in survival with any other drug in this group of patients. “Most treatments add an additional two and a half months, or three times as long. More than 52,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK each year.

Up to 20 percent are classified as “castration-resistant” – meaning the cancer has grown even though patients have been treated with drugs to lower testosterone levels, which can cause the disease. Many of the 10,000 men who die of cancer each year fall into this category.

The drug, made by AstraZeneca, is a PARP inhibitor that blocks a protein that cancer cells use to repair themselves. Without the protein, the cells die.

Now men who are resistant to hormone treatment and can’t or won’t get chemotherapy can use it in addition to abiraterone and another drug, prednisone.

Amy Rylance, from Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Olaparib and abiraterone are highly effective medicines and, when prescribed at the same time, will give these men valuable extra time before their cancer progresses.”