Tens of thousands of women at risk of breast cancer are set to benefit from a preventative drug after it was relicensed for a new use.

Anastrozole has been used for many years as a breast cancer treatment, but it has been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as a preventive option as well.

It is hoped it could prevent around 2,000 cases of breast cancer in England.

In trials, the drug has been shown to reduce the incidence of the disease in post-menopausal women at increased risk of the disease by almost 50 per cent.

It was first recommended as a preventive option by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in 2017, but it was not licensed for this use, so uptake was low.

Around 289,000 women at moderate or high risk of breast cancer could be eligible for the drug, and it is estimated that if 25 per cent of them do take it, around 2,000 cases of breast cancer could potentially be prevented in England, as well as saving the NHS around £15 million in treatment costs.

NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said: “It’s fantastic that this vital risk-reducing option could now help thousands of women and their families avoid the distress of a breast cancer diagnosis.

“Allowing more women to live healthier lives, free of breast cancer is truly remarkable, and we hope that licensing anastrozole for a new use today represents the first step to ensuring this risk-reducing option can be accessed by all who could benefit from it.

“This is the first drug to be repurposed through a world-leading new programme to help us realise the full potential of existing medicines in new uses to save and improve more lives on the NHS. Thanks to this initiative, we hope that greater access to anastrozole could enable more women to take risk-reducing steps if they’d like to, helping them live without fear of breast cancer.”