Tamoxifen

A drug that has shown promise against advanced breast cancer might work well in women diagnosed with early disease, offering a new treatment option and a stronger way to thwart cancer recurrences, scientists report today. In the international project, a drug called exemestane (sold as Aromasin) worked better than tamoxifen, one of medicine's mainstays, in preventing new tumor development. Aromasin reduced by one-third the likelihood that cancer would rebound in postmenopausal women who had already taken tamoxifen for two to three years.

Cheryl Corbin's mother and grandmother had breast cancer, so an oncologist suggested she be tested for an inherited gene mutation linked to the disease. But when the results came in, she didn't show up to hear them. "I was afraid to hear the words," Corbin, 47, said. "There's no turning back from there. " A genetic counselor tracked her down at the University of Maryland Women's Health clinic, where she is an office manager, and told her that she had the mutation that gave her an 85 percent chance of developing breast cancer . Corbin had no doubt about her next move - she had her breasts removed.

Women at high risk for breast cancer might have a safer option for preventing the disease, doctors said yesterday after concluding one of the largest breast cancer prevention trials in history. A nationwide trial among more than 19,000 post-menopausal women showed that a popular drug used to prevent and treat osteoporosis is just as effective in staving off breast cancer as the older standby, tamoxifen, but with fewer side effects. Both medications cut in half a woman's chance of developing breast cancer, but women taking the osteoporosis drug - called raloxifene and sold as Evista - developed fewer uterine cancers and blood clots.

Women at high risk for breast cancer might have a safer option for preventing the disease, doctors said yesterday after concluding one of the largest breast cancer prevention trials in history. A nationwide trial among more than 19,000 post-menopausal women showed that a popular drug used to prevent and treat osteoporosis is just as effective in staving off breast cancer as the older standby, tamoxifen, but with fewer side effects. Both medications cut in half a woman's chance of developing breast cancer, but women taking the osteoporosis drug - called raloxifene and sold as Evista - developed fewer uterine cancers and blood clots.

PHILADELPHIA -- Tamoxifen, a drug widely used to treat breast cancer patients, shows that it can reduce the incidence of the disease by nearly half among healthy women at increased risk, according to a landmark study.Letters announcing the breakthrough have gone out to the 13,000 women in the United States and Canada who kept on with the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial despite controversy over its risks and benefits."Based on the most recent analysis of the data, this is now the first study in the world to show that a drug can reduce the incidence of breast cancer," the letter says.

WASHINGTON -- Thousands of healthy women taking part in a new large-scale trial to see if a potent drug can prevent breast cancer are being inadequately informed of the risks, the critics asserted at a congressional hearing.Opponents of the $60 million federal study, designed to see if daily doses of the drug, tamoxifen, can prevent breast cancer in women with greater than normal risk of developing the disease, said yesterday the government had not informed participants of recent research that cast doubts on the drug's safety.

A new family of drugs, known as aromatase inhibitors, is more effective at treating breast cancer in older women than the current gold-standard drug, tamoxifen, researchers said yesterday. The drugs also reduced recurrence of the disease and eliminated the most severe side effects associated with breast cancer treatment . A major international study of more than 9,000 women with localized breast cancer showed that one of the drugs, anastrozole, raised disease-free survival by 10 percent, increased the time to recurrence by 20 percent and reduced spread of the cancer to the second breast by 40 percent, compared with tamoxifen.

LOS ANGELES -- A drug used to prevent osteoporosis in older women reduces the risk of breast cancer by as much as 70 percent without any serious side effects, researchers said yesterday at a meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology in Los Angeles.The risk reduction produced by the drug, called raloxifene, is about the same as that reported earlier this year for tamoxifen, but the latter drug can increase the risk of endometrial cancer and blood clots."Coming on the heels of the recent tamoxifen study, this is very exciting news," said Dr. Derek Raghavan of the University of Southern California's Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The government today is launching the largest cancer prevention experiment in U.S. history, testing 16,000 healthy women to see if the drug tamoxifen can prevent breast cancer.About 100 women will be tested at hospitals throughout Maryland, according to a spokeswoman at the University of Maryland Medical Center, which will be the state headquarters for the study.If the experiment with tamoxifen is successful, the estrogen-like drug could become an important tool in the fight against breast cancer, which struck 175,000 American women last year.

A new class of medications has emerged as a potentially powerful weapon against breast cancer, cutting by almost half the chance of recurrence in post-menopausal women who have completed a standard course of drug therapy, scientists reported yesterday. The results were so impressive that scientists directing a five-year study in the United States, Canada and Europe halted the trial midway so that women taking placebos in a comparison group could be offered the active drug, known as letrozole.

The pain of childbirth comes with an often forgotten benefit: Pregnancy reduces the mother's risk of breast cancer. Now, researchers who gathered in Baltimore this week say they may have found a way to mimic nature and reduce the risk for all women. So far, they have only experimented in mice, often a dead end for cancer therapies when the results can't be repeated in humans. But other scientists are particularly hopeful that this research will pan out. Here's how it works: When a woman is pregnant, the fetus produces a protein that shows up in the mother's blood around the 12th week of gestation.

A new family of drugs, known as aromatase inhibitors, is more effective at treating breast cancer in older women than the current gold-standard drug, tamoxifen, researchers said yesterday. The drugs also reduced recurrence of the disease and eliminated the most severe side effects associated with breast cancer treatment . A major international study of more than 9,000 women with localized breast cancer showed that one of the drugs, anastrozole, raised disease-free survival by 10 percent, increased the time to recurrence by 20 percent and reduced spread of the cancer to the second breast by 40 percent, compared with tamoxifen.

A drug that has shown promise against advanced breast cancer might work well in women diagnosed with early disease, offering a new treatment option and a stronger way to thwart cancer recurrences, scientists report today. In the international project, a drug called exemestane (sold as Aromasin) worked better than tamoxifen, one of medicine's mainstays, in preventing new tumor development. Aromasin reduced by one-third the likelihood that cancer would rebound in postmenopausal women who had already taken tamoxifen for two to three years.

A new class of medications has emerged as a potentially powerful weapon against breast cancer, cutting by almost half the chance of recurrence in post-menopausal women who have completed a standard course of drug therapy, scientists reported yesterday. The results were so impressive that scientists directing a five-year study in the United States, Canada and Europe halted the trial midway so that women taking placebos in a comparison group could be offered the active drug, known as letrozole.

Q. My daughter recently gave me a product containing black cohosh that is supposed to help hot flashes. I used to take Premarin and Provera, but after I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my surgeon urged me to drop these hormones. I am now taking tamoxifen to block the estrogen produced by my own body, and this is responsible for my hot flashes. I am reluctant to take this herb without knowing more about it. My oncologist has never heard of black cohosh, so I need your help. A. Black cohosh is a native North American herb that was widely used for "women's problems" in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

LOS ANGELES -- A drug used to prevent osteoporosis in older women reduces the risk of breast cancer by as much as 70 percent without any serious side effects, researchers said yesterday at a meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology in Los Angeles.The risk reduction produced by the drug, called raloxifene, is about the same as that reported earlier this year for tamoxifen, but the latter drug can increase the risk of endometrial cancer and blood clots."Coming on the heels of the recent tamoxifen study, this is very exciting news," said Dr. Derek Raghavan of the University of Southern California's Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

WASHINGTON -- Women's health advocates expressed grave concern yesterday that a new study aimed at preventing breast cancer is failing to warn participants about the serious side effects of their drug therapy, including the possible development of blood clots and liver tumors.Testimony about risks of the drug tamoxifen and inadequate warnings came as a congressional panel examined the first large-scale breast cancer prevention study, which was announced earlier this year by the National Cancer Institute.

Enthused by evidence that the drug tamoxifen prevents breast cancer in some women, physicians nonetheless cautioned yesterday that women must weigh the potential side effects before deciding to take the medication.Doctors agreed that the news could hardly have been better in light of past failures to stem disease rates: A study, reported yesterday, showed that the drug cut the rate of breast cancer by almost half for women at high risk. Tamoxifen is the first drug ever shown to prevent the disease, which kills some 44,000 women in the United States each year.

PHILADELPHIA -- Tamoxifen, a drug widely used to treat breast cancer patients, shows that it can reduce the incidence of the disease by nearly half among healthy women at increased risk, according to a landmark study.Letters announcing the breakthrough have gone out to the 13,000 women in the United States and Canada who kept on with the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial despite controversy over its risks and benefits."Based on the most recent analysis of the data, this is now the first study in the world to show that a drug can reduce the incidence of breast cancer," the letter says.