Malignant melanoma, which kills around 2,000 people on a yearly basis, may have met its match in two completely different and separate ways of treating the diseases that clinical trials have proven to significantly increase chances of patient survival.

These new treatments, an intravenous medication and a twice-daily pill, are both being assessed by licensing bodies in Europe, and experts expect that the first of these treatments could be available to patients in a matter of months. However, the NHS still hasn't made clear whether or not they think the drugs are worth spending tens of thousands of pounds on out of their already limited budget.

"For patients this is really tremendous news because we've actually got two dramatic breakthroughs which have happened at pretty much the same time", said Dr. James Larkin, a consultant medical oncologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Nearly 11,700 people receive a diagnosis for malignant melanoma in Britain every year, and it is continually rising in the country, especially in young adults and teenagers.

Before the discovery of these two medicines, the only way to treat this type of cancer was through "old-fashioned" chemotherapy, a type called dacarbazine, which has been around since the 1970s, and which experts don't regard as very effective.