Winning the war against breast cancer

NEW tests on old breast cancer drugs are proving healthy women who are high-risk candidates for breast cancer can take the drugs as a preventative measure, slashing their chances of contracting the disease by up to 63 percent. Dr Carol-Ann Benn, a Johannesburg oncologist and founder of the Breast Health Foundation in South Africa, said tests on the drugs Tamoxifen and Evista (Raloxifene) have found them to decrease the chances of high-risk patients getting breast cancer. She said no drug would totally prevent the onset of cancer, but could decrease the chances of people getting it. Benn has done studies on the drug and her findings concur with the information released yesterday. According to Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, international trials have shown that these drugs reduce the risk of the most common kind of breast cancer by one third after five years, with the preventative effect lasting up to 20 years. The guidelines for the drugs were released by the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the watchdog responsible for advising the National Health Service on good practice. Their most controversial plan is for drugs to be prescribed as preventative therapy despite not being licensed for the purpose. Both Tamoxifen and the osteoporosis drug Raloxifene, which is used after menopause, are licensed in the US for breast cancer prevention but are not widely prescribed, partly because of concerns about side effects. Benn said that because all medication has positive and negative side effects, these had to be weighed up for each patient before they were prescribed. Most common side effects were hot flushes, nausea, indigestion, weight gain and leg cramps.

The new tests show that using these drugs as a precaution against cancer could offer as much as 20 years of protection for high-risk women. Even women thought to be at moderate risk of getting breast cancer within the next 10 years, due to genetic or family history, could be given this daily medication as a preventative measure. Benn said Tamoxifen and Evista have been used to treat the illness since the 1990s, saving many lives. They halve the chances of the disease returning. Patients take the drug for five years after diagnosis in breast cancer which is caused by the hormone oestrogen. The Daily Mail reported that Chris Askew of Breakthrough Breast Cancer said the new guidance was "a historic step for the prevention of breast cancer". He added that it was the first time drugs had ever been recommended for reducing breast cancer risk in the UK.