THE official NHS go-ahead for prescribing new breast cancer drugs looks certain later this year.

Health watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has issued a final draft appraisal backing the use of three types of aromatase inhibitors in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer.

The drugs, which have been hailed as a treatment breakthrough, reduce the risk of tumours spreading following surgery and could benefit thousands of women with hormone receptor positive early breast cancer.

They are Arimidex (anastrozole), Femara (letrozole) and Aromasin (exemestane) and will be available on the NHS alongside the "gold standard" drug tamoxifen.

The recommendations are still subject to appeal, but the go-ahead is unlikely to be blocked at this stage.

The inhibitors stop the natural production of oestrogen - the hormone that is responsible for the growth and recurrence of many breast cancers.

A 2004 study, co-ordinated by Cancer Research UK, found that patients who switched from tamoxifen to Aromasin halfway through treatment reduced the risk of the disease returning by a third.

In June, the landmark Intergroup Exemestane Study also found that switching to Aromasin cut the risk of death by 17 per cent compared with remaining on tamoxifen.

The results were for those women who had already completed two to three years of tamoxifen therapy.

A trial with Arimidex immediately after surgery showed an extra 26 per cent cut in cancer recurrence on top of the 50 per cent reduction provided by tamoxifen.

Femara has also been shown to be more effective than tamoxifen.

The Government has made clear that doctors should not wait for Nice guidance to complete all its stages before prescribing such drugs.

Dr Sarah Rawlings from Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "We are delighted. New treatment options like these are an important addition to the armoury of therapies available to treat women with the disease, making a real difference in increasing disease-free survival."

A spokeswoman for Nice said: "Nice has not yet issued final guidance to the NHS on the use of hormonal therapies for this indication.

"Consultees have the opportunity to appeal against the provisional recommendations contained in the draft document.

"Final guidance is expected in November."