Breast cancer drug Tamoxifen has been conclusively proven to prevent the disease in healthy, high-ri...
Breast cancer drug Tamoxifen has been conclusively proven to prevent the disease in healthy, high-risk women.
Findings from an extensive review of the drug's track record in prevention trials show the drug reduces the incidence of breast cancer by 38% in healthy women who have a high chance of developing the disease.
The research, published in The Lancet, was conducted by a team of scientists from Australia, Italy and the UK, led by senior researcher at Cancer Research UK, Professor Jack Cuzick.
Cuzick said the results marked a positive step. 'In our analysis we combined all the available evidence from studies using Tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention collectively involving over 40,000 women ' and it is clear to us now that the drug can reduce the chance of high-risk women developing the disease,' he said.
However, researchers found the drug could only prevent breast cancers that carry receptors for the hormone oestrogen. There was no reduction of incidence for women with oestrogen receptor negative breast tumours.
The team said the next challenge was to minimise the side effects of Tamoxifen for it to fill its full potential. It was found during the study that women taking the drug doubled their risk of developing blood-clotting disorders.
It was also found that the women in the study had a two-fold increased risk of developing endometrial cancer, a rare cancer that affects the lining of the womb.
Sir Paul Nurse, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: 'It looks clear to us now that Tamoxifen has an important role in preventing breast cancer. But it is essential we continue to monitor Tamoxifen's long-term perfor-mance in prevention trials and to identify those women which the benefits of the drug will outweigh the risks.'
