Ms Barber is "over the moon" by the PCT's U-turn

Elaine Barber, 41, from Staffordshire, will be prescribed Herceptin by North Stoke Primary Care Trust (PCT) because of her "exceptional circumstances".

Campaigner Alison Poole said it was a major boost and she now expected a flood of appeals around the country.

But she said decisions should be based only on medical circumstances.

Mrs Poole, who helped to form a campaign group in Staffordshire in the summer, said she had the same oncologist and the same cancer as Ms Barber.

If it had been based purely on medical circumstances, this would have given ladies far more hope Campaigner Alison Poole

"We haven't got the same social circumstances," said Mrs Poole.

"So if they don't give it to us (others in Staffordshire), then it's almost Dickensian.

"I am starting Herceptin a week on Friday and I'll be paying for it. So I hope it'll be resolved (the appeal) before then.

"It's marvellous for Elaine [but] the only thing that might worry some women is the exceptional circumstances clause.

"If it had been based purely on medical circumstances, this would have given ladies far more hope."

Ms Barber, a mother-of-four, had her appeal turned down on Monday when the PCT said it was not convinced of the drug's safety or cost-effectiveness.

But she said she was "over the moon" about the trust's U-turn on Wednesday to pay for the treatment, but said human life "should not be measured in pounds".

'Difficult choices'

Campaigners handed in a petition at Downing Street in September because the drug is not given for free to people in the early stages of cancer, but only to those with advanced cancer.

They will hold a peaceful demonstration on the issue in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on Saturday.

In a statement the PCT said it regretted the distress it had caused to Ms Barber.

It said its original decision was not based on the cost of the product but the trust always faced "difficult choices about which services represent the best use of finite resources."

There was no budget for prescribing Herceptin this year and that it would cost the city of Stoke-on-Trent about �700,000 in the year 2006/7, the trust added.