(dailyRx)
After being successfully treated for breast cancer, a woman still lives with a lingering fear. Will this come back and kill me? One drug reduces the risks of both. Taking Tamoxifen for 5 years reduces breast cancer recurrence and mortality.
In a long-term analysis, researchers have found that tamoxifen reduces the likelihood of breast cancer recurrence (return) and death even after 15 years. Using this medication for five years following original treatment decreased breast cancer-related deaths by about 30 percent for 15 years, compared to women who didn’t take the drug.
Tamoxifen blocks estrogen and is used as an adjuvant (after treatment) therapy for patients with estrogen positive (ER+) cancers. This therapy is prescribed for five years following treatment for breast cancer, which includes some combination of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.
Researchers analyzed individual patient data from 20 different trials. They looked at 10,645 patients with early stage ER+ breast cancer who took tamoxifen for roughly five years following orginal treatment.
Tamoxifen had virtually no effect on the recurrence and mortality risks of women with estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) breast cancer.
Results from this study were published in The Lancet.
Breast Cancer
In the United States, one out of every eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer sometime in her life. In 2010, there were over 250,000 new cases of breast cancer in women, and the number is rising. While treatment is improving, almost 40,000 women still died from breast cancer during 2009. However, there are still 2.5 million women in the US who are survivors.
Breast cancer, like any other cancer, is malignant, uncontrolled growth of breast tissue, usually from the tissue that lines the milk ducts (ductal carcinoma) or the tissue that makes the milk (lobular carcinoma). When cancer has not invaded other parts of the breast, it is referred to as in situ. (ex. Ductal carcinoma in situ). Breast cancers are also defined by their genes and hormone sensitivity. Some grow in response to the presence of estrogen, and area called ER+. Others have specific genes that make the cancer more aggressive, such as the gene HER2. These are important distinctions that direct treatment and prognosis.