This is the first health service in Europe to offer patients the immunotherapy drug nivolumab as an injection. The injection takes only 3-5 minutes and can treat 15 different types of cancer, including lung, colon, kidney, bladder, esophageal, skin, head and neck cancer, according to The Gardian.

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The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the injectable drug nivolumab, called Opdivo, as an alternative to the traditional cancer treatment, which can take up to an hour to be given intravenously.

The new drug could save a lot of time in treatment. Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said the time savings would allow more patients to be treated and ease the burden on the health system.

Immunotherapy has been a huge step forward for many cancer patients and being able to inject the drugs in minutes makes the process much more convenient, says Professor Johnson.

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New drug helps the immune system detect and destroy cancer cells

Normally, cancer cells will find ways to disable immune cells. Nivolumab helps the immune system fight cancer by blocking this "trick" of cancer cells, allowing the immune system to detect and destroy cancer cells.

Cancer patients can rest assured that this new drug is affordable, no more expensive than traditional cancer treatments.

Naser Turabi, head of evidence assessment, cancer research and data analysis at Cancer Research UK, said: Inventions like this will be crucial to treating cancer patients earlier and more effectively, according to The Gardian.