UPDATE 1-EU agency recommends key Novartis cancer drug

* Recommended for use against advanced kidney cancer

* Heralds likely approval within a couple of months

* Novartis hopes Afinitor could be $1 bln seller

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ZURICH, May 29 (Reuters) - European regulators on Friday recommended Novartis AG's (NOVN.VX) Afinitor for use against advanced kidney cancer, paving the way for approval of a drug which could significantly boost the Swiss company's sales.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are normally endorsed by the European Commission within a couple of months.

U.S. regulators approved Afinitor earlier this year for use in advanced kidney cancer and Novartis expects it to be effective against other disease types, which could help it achieve sales of more than $1 billion annually.

Afinitor -- which works by blocking a protein known as mTOR and disrupting the growth, division and metabolism of cancer cells -- is a key plank of Novartis' strategy to expand in cancer drugs. It expects a filing for use in neuroendocrine tumours within the next year. (Reporting by Sam Cage; Editing by David Holmes)