MP Charlie Elphicke has welcomed the approval of a life-extending cancer drug after lobbying the NHS.

Kadcyla adds an average of six months of life to women with certain forms of terminal breast cancer – at an undiscounted cost of £90,000 per patient.

The drug was available in Scotland from April but was deemed too expensive by the rest of the UK.

Earlier this year Mr Elphicke, MP for Dover and Deal, met with local support group the Breast Cancer Girls of Deal, both in the constituency and in Westminster.

They told him how important Kadcyla was for their members.

Mr Elphicke lobbied Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which on Thursday Jun 15 announced a U-turn in favour of funding the drug.

Mr Elphicke said: “I am delighted by the outcome and there is no doubt all the pressure we piled on made a great difference.

"So many people were involved in this campaign.

“I heard first hand from these courageous women how it was literally handing them a lifeline.

“Time is the most important thing we have. If treatments work and give us more of it, money should not be an obstacle.”

Chantele Rashbrook, who runs the Breast Cancer Girls of Deal group, has secondary breast cancer and is being treated with Kadcyla.

She said: “I’m now going into my third year on it and it’s reduced the tumour on my lung to pretty much nothing.

“A lot of women in our group could end up with secondary breast cancer. They would never have been given this chance without this decision.

“I’m so happy. It’s just brilliant.

“Charlie was on the ball and got other MPs to raise the issue too, and we got to talk to senior people in pharmaceuticals personally.

“It’s made a big difference.”