Drug Can Reduce Breast Cancer Risk by 72%

Confirming preliminary findings, a large-scale study has demonstrated that the drug raloxifene reduced the risk of invasive breast cancer by 72% in postmenopausal women who took the drug daily for four years. The results were published in the January issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

The multicenter trial, called MORE (Multiple Outcomes of Raloxifene Evaluation), involved 7,705 postmenopausal women with an average age of 66.5 years and a history of osteoporosis. About 12% reported a family history of breast cancer. The trial showed that raloxifene blocks the estrogen receptors in estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers.The drug showed no effect on estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancers. Raloxifene was also shown to increase bone density and reduce vertral fractures.

In a separate study, researchers found that tamoxifen also reduced the incidence of invasive breast cancer in women at significantly increased risk of the disease. As in the case of raloxifene, tamoxifen produced its greatest risk reduction in women with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers. A new study is planned, involving up to 22,000 participants, that will offer a comparison of the two drugs. The study is expected to show whether the two agents are equivalent in reducing breast cancer in high-risk women and whether one agent produces fewer undesirable side effect.

"Specifically, raloxifene reduced the risk of estrogen-receptor positive invasive breast cancer by 84%. This finding indicates that raloxifene is very effective at curbing the development of estrogen-fed breast tumors among older women with an average breast cancer risk,” said Jane Cauley, Dr.P.H, lead author of the study and associate professor of epidemiology at the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh (PA, USA).



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