A 10-year study has been launched to examine how effective a new drug is in preventing breast cancer...
A 10-year study has been launched to examine how effective a new drug is in preventing breast cancer.
Anastrozole has already been shown to be the most effective hormone treatment for breast cancer, however the new research aims to find out whether it could be used to stop breast cancer developing in the first place.
Scientists at Cancer Research UK believe that the drug could cut the risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women by 50%. This could potentially prevent around 30,000 women being diagnosed with the disease each year in the UK.
Professor Jack Cuzick, director of Cancer Research UK's department of mathematics, statistics and epidemiology, said: "The results of an earlier trial showed that preventing breast cancer is a real possibility, but the new trial has the potential to have an even more dramatic impact on the disease."
Tamoxifen is another drug that has been found to be successful in preventing some breast cancers. However, trials have so far proved that women are 40% less likely to have a second cancer in the opposite breast by taking anastrozole, rather than tamoxifen.
The trial will compare the drug with a placebo and look at how many women develop breast cancer as well as any side effects. Of the 10,000 women taking part in the trial, 4,000 will have been already diagnosed with non-invasive breast cancer and have a greater risk of developing a new tumour in the opposite breast.
