Women with aggressive breast cancer will be granted a life-extending drug after a U-turn by NHS rationing bodies.

The announcement was hailed by charities as a “monumental” decision by rationing bodies, which had previously rejected the drug as too expensive.

Kadcyla had been rejected by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) despite the fact it gives women with advanced breast cancer up to nine months' extra life.

Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, announced that a deal has been struck to fund the revolutionary treatment - which had been the tenth breast cancer drug in a row to be rejected for funding. He said tough negotiations meant the taxpayer and patients would get a better deal for the treatment, which had previously been costed at £90,000 a year.