Women at high risk of breast cancer can benefit from taking tamoxifen and, perhaps, the drug raloxifene.

We already know that tamoxifen can reduce the risk of a recurrence of breast cancer in women who have suffered one bout of the disease. Now the US Preventive Services Task Force says, after reviewing research, that tamoxifen can be helpful for women at high risk (but who have not yet developed the disease). The researchers say that hormone-sensitive cancer risk goes down by 50 per cent for women on tamoxifen.

The women who should be considering the chemoprevention strategy are those in their 40s and 50s with a family history of breast cancer, who are not at risk of severe side effects from the drug. There is also evidence that an osteoporosis drug, raloxifene, may be helpful - although this is based on results from only one trial. The Task Force does not recommend chemoprevention for women at low or average risk of breast cancer - for here the risks may well outweigh the benefits. Doctors will need to have a full and detailed discussion with a woman over whether chemoprevention is appropriate in her individual case.

Source

Annals of Internal Medicine 2nd July 2002