BREAST CANCER DRUGS FOR HEALTHY WOMEN !!!!!!

[Daanyeer]

Source: http://poorrichards-blog.blogspot.com/2 ... women.html

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Tim Ross at telegraph.co.uk

Millions of healthy women should be given drugs with potentially serious side-effects to prevent them developing breast cancer, a landmark study has recommended.





Tamoxifen works to reduce levels of oestrogen, which causes many breast cancers to grow Photo: ALAMY
Up to one in 10 women could benefit from anti-cancer treatments such as
tamoxifen even before they show signs of the disease, according to an
international panel of experts.


But there are concerns the drug could have side-effects, such as blood clots
and, in some cases, womb cancer.


In a paper published today in The Lancet Oncology, the specialists call
for a radical new approach to identifying and treating patients who are at
risk.


Breast cancer kills 12,000 people in Britain every year and is the
second-biggest cause of death among women, after lung cancer. More than
46,000 new cases are diagnosed in Britain each year.
The latest study suggested that breast cancer could be tackled using the same
mass prevention approach that doctors used to reduce heart disease, under
which millions of patients have been prescribed statins to lower their
cholesterol.

Among the most widely prescribed cancer drugs is tamoxifen. It works to reduce

levels of oestrogen, which causes many breast cancers to grow.

The drug is not currently approved for use in Britain as a preventive
treatment to stop healthy
women developing cancer, although it is used in this way in America.

The report's lead author, Prof Jack Cuzick, from Queen Mary, University of
London, said doctors should be authorised to prescribe tamoxifen as a
preventive therapy in Britain, even though the drug can have serious side
effects.

He said: "There are trials ongoing looking at new drugs that may be more
effective and less toxic – that is the future. For the present, there are
clearly the five to 10 per cent of women who are at high enough risk that
they really should consider this.”

International trials have shown that tamoxifen reduces the risk of the most
common kind of breast cancer by about one third among women who are at
increased risk of the disease.

The report, which followed an international conference of 150 breast cancer
specialists in London last year, also recommended widening the methods used
to identify women who are at risk of developing the disease.

Currently only women who have a family history of breast cancer, such as a
mother or sister with the disease, are routinely considered for preventive
treatments.

But studies have found that women who show increased breast density in
mammogram scans are also at greater risk of developing the disease.

If long-term research confirms the pattern, breast density should be included
when identifying patients who could benefit from drugs to prevent cancer,
the academics said.

Cancer Research UK welcomed the findings. Dr Lesley Walker, the charity’s
director of cancer information, said: “Being able to accurately predict
breast cancer risk and who will respond to preventative drugs like these is
a crucial step in ensuring women get the most suitable treatment.”

READ MORE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/women ... women.html

[zulaika]

But there are concerns the drug could have side-effects, such as blood clots
and, in some cases, womb cancer.

with all the research money at their disposal, the best they can do is to come up with a preemptive approach to cause the very thing they seek to cure?