LIVERPOOL researchers have identified the genes which cause breast cancer to spread.

The discovery could save thousands of lives, as scientists can begin to develop a drug which prevents tumours growing elsewhere in the body.

The team at Liverpool University’s Biological Science Department now needs funds to continue their work and develop the treatment.

Head of the project, Professor Philip Rudland, was in a similar position 20 years ago.

He identified the role a protein, called COB 2, played in the growth of cancer.

His research team then received no further funding to develop a drug, but American counterparts who had made the same discovery went on to produce Herceptin, a cancer drug the NHS now pays millions of pounds for.

Prof Rudland does not want another opportunity to be missed by British researchers because of a lack of funds.

He said: “We have been working on this important project for 20 years and, having now identified the genes which can trigger the spread of breast cancer, we are now very close to finding a way to stop the spread. “But we desperately need more funds, to enable us to finish our work as quickly as possible and in so doing to save thousands of patients who might otherwise die.”