A new platinum-based medical treatment has proved effective in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer.

The results of a major new study indicate that those patients who received bevacizumab in combination with an oxaliplatin regimen known as FOLFOX4 lived longer than other patients.

Those receiving the treatment had a median overall survival of 12.5 months, adding 1.5 months to those using the standard treatment.

Experts say the difference is "statistically significant", representing a 17 per cent improvement in median overall survival.

The University of Pennsylvania's Bruce Giantonio, who led the team, said the results are "simply more good news for people with colorectal cancer".

'We now know that bevacizumab added to second-line chemotherapy with FOLFOX4 improves survival. With these findings, we can now more confidently expect survival for people with advanced disease to be more than double what it was just a few years ago," he added.

The study charted the progress of more than 800 patients, following their progress from October 2001 until April 2003.