Researchers at a British laboratory have created two pills that can stop the progress of skin cancer by contracting lethal tumours by half.

The scientists at the GlaxoSmithKline drugs firm said that the pills that could be available by the next 3 years, will meliorate the length and quality of life for those with suffering from malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Malignant melanoma is the rapidly growing cancer in the United Kingdom, with approximately 10,000 new cases and 2,000 fatalities every year.

Rates have doubled during the last two decades owing to excessive tanning by Brits on holidays to hot nations.

It is now the most common form of cancer in women in their 20s. Around 340 women are diagnosed every year, 50 of whom die.

The cancer tumour, which first manifests itself as a small mole on the skin, can be surgically removed if detected early. But once it spreads to other parts of the body, it is usually terminal. Patients can be given chemotherapy to control it, but it will not stop the disease from advancing.

Presently, researchers claimed that intake of two pills could stop the progress of cancer in its tracks by shrinking tumours, even in the most advanced stages.

The drugs target the injurious protein that leads to the tumours to grow during the initial place. By disabling the protein, the drugs stop the spread of cancer and can even reverse its growth - although tumours cannot be removed altogether.

The researchers conducted a series of experiments on 80 sufferers suffering from advanced skin cancer. They discovered that over half of patients who took the first drug, called "Braf 436", saw their tumours diluted by at least 20 percent.

Tumours also shrank in more than half of patients who took a second pill, "Mek 183". In a quarter of patients they reduced in size by 50 percent.

The scientists will now carry out trials on people taking both pills at the same time. (With Inputs from Agencies)