One in five breast cancer patients does not take prescribed hormone treatment

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Women do not always take hormone therapy prescribed to prevent breast cancer recurrence.
Postmenopausal women with early stage hormone sensitive breast cancer can benefit from taking a new class of drug called aromatase inhibitors. These work by blocking the enzyme aromatase which otherwise produces estrogen. Lowering estrogen levels in this way reduces the risk of breast cancer recurrence in these patients.

Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute now report upon a study of a group of women on the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole. They found that 85 per cent of them were still filling their prescriptions a year after the drug was first prescribed - but not all were doing so on a regular basis. They concluded that one in five women in the group had access to the drug for less than 80 per cent of the time and were thus considered not to be adhering to their treatment plan. This is concerning as the women may be increasing their risk of breast cancer recurrence. The researchers think there may be many reasons for non-adherence to treatment, such as fear of or experience of side effects, cost of treatment or lack of belief in it. These need to be further investigated so that more women can be protected from breast cancer recurrence.

Source
San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 16th December 2006

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