Health regulators have overturned a ban on two drugs that could benefit patients suffering from rare and life-threatening brain cancers.

The revised guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) means that up to 800 patients a year will benefit from receiving the drugs, Temodal and Gliadel, on the NHS.

Doctors and campaigners have been battling for two years to get NICE to reverse its decision to bar brain specialists from prescribing the drugs. The original guidance in 2005 rejected both therapies on the basis of cost effectiveness.

Temodal was originally approved for newly diagnosed cases of brain cancer in 2001 but NICE refused to approve its use for advanced cases of the disease despite compelling evidence from trials.

The decision led to anger as the drug, a tablet that patients take as oral chemotherapy, was invented by British scientists funded by Cancer Research UK, yet neurologists in this country were unable to prescribe it to patients.

Gliadel is administered in a wafer that is left at the site where a brain tumour has been removed by surgery. Trials show that the drug is highly effective at mopping up remaining cancer cells and preventing the disease recurring.

Yesterday cancer charities called on health authorities to make the drugs available immediately and not wait until the decision comes into force in June. Ella Pybus, speaking on behalf of a consortium of charities, said: “Everyone is relieved that NICE has had this change of heart. There was solid evidence that these drugs work.

“Now we are looking for primary care trusts to give these drugs to all those who qualify for treatment. It will be a cruel blow if treatments for one of the most lethal of all cancers were further delayed because of lack of sufficient funding.”

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