Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
A "landmark study" shows a drug can more than halve the development of breast cancer in high-risk women.
A trial on 4,000 women, published in the Lancet, showed anastrozole was more effective, cheaper and had fewer side effects than current medications.
It stops the production of the hormone oestrogen, which fuels the growth of the majority of breast cancers.
Doctors and campaigners are asking health services to consider offering the drug to healthy women.
Some countries already offer the drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene to prevent breast cancer.
A challenge for cancer research will be to identify those women who would gain the most from treatment.
Advances in genetics and new ways of analysing breast tissue are getting a clearer picture of a woman's risk.
However, it is important to remember that many lifestyle choices have a huge impact too.
Breast feeding, reducing alcohol intake and losing weight will all cut the risk of breast cancer.
They both block oestrogen activity, however, they also increase the risk of cancers of the womb, deep vein thrombosis and hot flushes.
Aromatase inhibitors, such as anastrozole, stop oestrogen being produced in the first place and are already used as a treatment for breast cancer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25346638
A trial on 4,000 women, published in the Lancet, showed anastrozole was more effective, cheaper and had fewer side effects than current medications.
It stops the production of the hormone oestrogen, which fuels the growth of the majority of breast cancers.
Doctors and campaigners are asking health services to consider offering the drug to healthy women.
Some countries already offer the drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene to prevent breast cancer.
A challenge for cancer research will be to identify those women who would gain the most from treatment.
Advances in genetics and new ways of analysing breast tissue are getting a clearer picture of a woman's risk.
However, it is important to remember that many lifestyle choices have a huge impact too.
Breast feeding, reducing alcohol intake and losing weight will all cut the risk of breast cancer.
They both block oestrogen activity, however, they also increase the risk of cancers of the womb, deep vein thrombosis and hot flushes.
Aromatase inhibitors, such as anastrozole, stop oestrogen being produced in the first place and are already used as a treatment for breast cancer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25346638