The British health secretary Patricia Hewitt has ordered a fast-track assessment of Herceptin, a drug which has shown great promise in treating the early stages of breast cancer.
Hewitt's intervention came after concern the drug was being denied to patients who could benefit from its use.
It is now down to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), to assess whether the drug should be made widely available on the NHS.
Herceptin is already used to treat women with advanced breast cancer, and is specifically targeted at the one in four patients who have a form of the disease known as HER2 positive breast cancer.
As yet it is not licensed for treating early stage breast cancer, but preliminary tests have shown the drug is effective when given to these patients.
Researchers say more work needs to be done to be certain that the benefits of the treatment outweigh any potentially damaging side effects.
Ms Hewitt has apparently asked NICE to start work on assessing the drug as soon as possible, so it is in a position to act quickly if and when the drug receives a licence.
According to the manufacturer, Roche, it will apply for a licence next year, and that could be granted within two or three months of the application.
John Melville, general manager of Roche UK, says they are doing everything in their power to gain a European marketing licence for early stage HER2 positive breast cancer patients as soon as possible.
They estimate a decision will be made by the European Medicines Regulatory Agency (EMEA) between July and November 2006.
National Cancer Director, Mike Richards, has welcomed the health secretary's decision.
He is encouraged by the preliminary results on the use of Herceptin for early stage breast cancer, and says it is important that the NHS receives timely advice on the clinical and cost effectiveness of such treatments.