RPT AstraZeneca's Tamoxifen cuts breast cancer long-term - study |
|
|
|
Published
:
Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:18
|
(Repeating to clarify both reports mentioned were released today)WASHINGTON (AFX) - Women who took AstraZeneca PLC's drug tamoxifen had one-fourth fewer cases of breast cancer, even years after they stopped taking the drug, said a study released today.Tamoxifen is used both to treat estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer and to prevent it. In 2002, a study found that the drug reduced the incidence of breast cancer by 32 pct four years into a trial among 7,145 women.A new study shows that five years later, even women who stopped taking tamoxifen were still protected, with a cancer rate down by 27 pct, or nearly five fewer cancers in every 1,000 women, according to an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.What is more, the side effects of tamoxifen, such as blood clots and stroke, ceased when the dosage did, while the protection lasted for years.'The benefits of tamoxifen extend beyond the active treatment period, but the side effects do not,' said the study's authors, led by Jack Cuzick, of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London.A second new report, also released today, has used data from a 1998 study, which followed 2,471 women taking 20 milligrams daily of tamoxifen, and found no difference between the women taking the drug and a placebo over a 13-year period.However, after a 20-year follow-up, researchers found that tamoxifen was effective in preventing estrogen receptor-positive type breast cancer, by 39 pct, according to researchers at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.In an editorial in the journal, Umberto Veronesi of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan wrote that tamoxifen is useful only against estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, and so must be prescribed accordingly.newsdesk@afxnews.comafp/twCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2006. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
AstraZeneca's Tamoxifen cuts breast cancer long-term - study 