Mike Tomlinson said last October his wife had found it "distressing" that she could not get easy access to lapatinib before her death in Leeds in September last year.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust would not give the go-ahead for the Leeds cancer heroine to have the drug as it was not taking part in GlaxoSmithKline-sponsored trials of the medicine.

She had to make a 150-mile round trip to Nottingham to receive the drug.

Lapatinib can prolong the lives of women suffering a type of advanced breast cancer by stopping the disease from growing.

Around a quarter of women with breast cancer suffer the HER2 positive kind.

The drug is for women whose advanced disease has stopped responding to Herceptin.

Also known as Tyverb, the drug has received its European licence, making it available on private prescription in the UK.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence will assess it later in the year before deciding if patients can get it on the NHS.

At the time Leeds Teaching Hospitals called for a debate about access to medicines that have not yet received their licence for use in the UK.

More than 320 women in other parts of the UK were treated under the "expanded access" trial programme.

Pamela Goldberg, chief executive of Breast Cancer Campaign, said today's announcement means around 2,000 women a year in the UK may benefit.

"It is encouraging news that Tyverb has received a conditional licence indication for metastatic breast cancer.

"However, it is important to emphasise that it is not a new wonder drug suitable for all breast cancer patients.

"Around 2,000 women in the UK with HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer who have previously followed a specific drug regime could benefit from this treatment.

"The signs are promising and we hope that Tyverb will be developed further as a treatment in the earlier stages of breast cancer.

"Tyverb is a new way to treat breast cancer as it specifically targets the receptors responsible for tumour growth."