|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
GEN: Get Ready For the Phone CallsFrom: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)Mon Apr 6 10:20:32 1998
FYI 12:24 PM ET 04/05/98 Tamoxifen shown to reduce breast cancer risk - U.S. study PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Trial studies by the National Cancer Institute with the drug tamoxifen show a dramatic reduction in breast cancer among women at higher risk, according to an article published in Sunday's edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Breast cancer rates were cut nearly in half among healthy women who are at increased risk, showing for the first time that tamoxifen can prevent breast cancer, the article on the NCI study said. Tamoxifen has been used to treat breast cancer for 20 years. The drug locks on to estrogen receptors of breast cancer cells and blocks estrogen from stimulating the cells' growth and proliferation. Letters announcing the results have gone out to 13,000 women in the United States and Canada who took part in the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial by the NCI, the paper said. ``This is now the first study in the world to show that a drug can reduce the incidence of breast cancer,'' the NCI letter said. Researchers will officially release the results at a news conference on Wednesday, and would not discuss the $68 million study in advance, the Inquirer said. The trial was started in 1992. Tamoxifen, a hormone-based cancer therapy, is produced by Zeneca Pharmaceuticals of Wilmington, Delaware, a subsidiary of the British drugs company Zeneca Group Plc., and has been available since 1973. Women at higher risk for the potentially deadly disease as well as those with a family history of cancer or precancerousbreast lesions were assigned at random to five years of either dummy pills or tamoxifen. ``I'm just thrilled. Wow!'' Patricia Lorah, 45, of Reading, Pennsylvania, told the Inquirer about her reaction upon opening the letter. Lorah said she had lost her mother and grandmother to the disease, and ``This is almost overwhelming.'' The NCI letter does not make clear how many breast cancer cases were likely prevented. But the reduced rate means ``in a group of women similar to the (study) population, rather than 100 breast cancers developing in the first 3 1/2 years after taking tamoxifen, there would be 55 cases of breast cancer,'' the letter said. Researchers are still examining the data, according to the NCI letter, to see if some women benefited more than others and to better grasp the risks. Tamoxifen is associated with increased risks for cancer of the uterine lining and for dangerous clots that can lodge in the lungs. Other side effects can include uterine bleeding, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and nausea. Some groups have criticized the study as substituting one disease for another. The NCI letter says the rate of those risks does not exceed the original predictions of the study. ``If this turns out to be a good risk-benefit ratio for some women, that will be good news,'' Cindy Pearson, executive director of the National Women's Health Network, told the paper. But Pearson warned that it's imperative for researchers to tell women ``what they know about the cost of this benefit.'' art
-- art fougner, md SonoScan/Genetic Sciences forest hills, ny evsono@pipeline.com
|
|
Return to
|
Mail a New Message to the Forum: ob-gyn-l@obgyn.net Forum Administrator: geffrey.klein@obgyn.net Report Technical Problems: webmaster@obgyn.net Last Updated: Mon Nov 2 05:27:40 2009 |
The American Medical Association is no longer designating CME hours for AMA Category II CME credit. However, physicians themselves may self designate learning activities as Category II CME credit hours if they feel it is of sufficient educational merit and meets the formal definitions of continuing medical education. OBGYN.net believes these interaction in this forum meets these criteria. For further information see the AMA web site.