A new class of drugs which could prevent thousands of heart attacks and deaths from cancer has been hailed as the biggest breakthrough since statins.

Scientists last night said the discovery ushered in “a new era of therapeutics” which work in an entirely different way to conventional treatment.

As well as cutting the risk of a heart attack by one quarter, the drugs halved the chances of dying from cancer and protected against gout and arthritis. Now scientists have found that reducing inflammation in the body can protect against a host of conditions - with a “really dramatic effect” on cancer deaths.

The drug canakinumab, given by injection every three months - cut repeat heart attacks by one quarter. Statins cut the risk by around 15 per cent.

Experts said the findings have “far-reaching” implications for the 200,000 people a year in Britain who suffer a heart attack. And they called for urgent trials to further examine the impact of the medication on cancer.

Professor Paul Ridker of Harvard Medical School, presenting his findings at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Barcelona yesterday, said it opens up a “third front” in the war on heart disease. The four-year study found those given the new treatment saw a 24 per cent reduction in heart attacks and 17 per cent fall in angina, while those on the highest dose saw cancer deaths fall by 51 per cent.

Speaking at the world’s biggest gathering of heart experts, Harvard scientists said the approach promises to “usher in a new era” of treatment.