CRICKETER Kevin Pietersen is backing a campaign to give patients with a rare kind of cancer access to a pioneering treatment developed in Southampton after his best friend died from the condition.

Jon Cole-Edwardes died in September 2013, two years after being diagnosed with ocular melanoma, a type of eye cancer, which often spreads to the liver.

Ex-Hampshire star Pietersen's charity, the KP24 Foundation, has joined forces with eye cancer charity OcuMel UK to put pressure on NHS England and policymakers to provide access to chemosaturation - or percutaneous hepatic perfusion (PHP) - which halts or slows down progression of cancerous tumours in the liver.

Chemosaturation allows doctors to deliver very high doses of chemotherapy to the liver without entering the bloodstream and damaging healthy parts of the body.

The technique involves using two small balloons to isolate the liver from the rest of the body for approximately 30 minutes while delivering the chemotherapy agent, melphalan, directly into the organ.

It is not available on the NHS but has proven to be successful in clinical trials or when carried out privately.

Dr Brian Stedman, consultant interventional oncologist at Southampton General Hospital, said: ''Data has shown that patients who receive chemosaturation survive significantly longer than those who have received other treatments including systemic chemotherapy.

''Our experience has been very positive since the first treatment in September 2012, with many patients alive and well after two years.

''Additionally, we have found that patients tolerate this treatment very well staying for just one or two nights in hospital.''

Kathryn Curtis, general manager at OcuMel UK, said the spreading of the cancer to the liver was the leading cause of death among people with ocular melanoma (OM).

''Currently, OM patients with advanced metastatic liver disease have limited treatment options and only 10% are suitable for surgery,'' she said.

''Once the cancer has spread to the liver, without treatment average survival is approximately four months.''

Pietersen said: ''My best friend Jon Cole-Edwardes recently died from ocular melanoma which had spread to the liver.

''This treatment is truly ground-breaking and patients should not be denied access.''