Medications to reduce breast cancer risk hazarduos

The drugs specifically referred to here are tamoxifen, raloxifene and tibolone. At present, tibolone is not available in the U.S. market, but it is available in many other countries.

The drugs are mostly administered to prevent recurrence of breast cancer in women who have already been diagnosed with it or treated previously for the same.

Review author Dr. Heidi D. Nelson, a research professor at Oregon Health & Science University, was quoted as saying, “We found that the three drugs actually did reduce the risk for invasive breast cancer by 30 to 68 percent.” But he added that it should not be forgotten that these drugs have their own levels of side-effects.

This conclusion has been reached after analyzing innumerable previously published studies; these include arbitrary clinical trials and a head-to-head evaluation of the medications used for the reduction of risk.

All three drugs have their side-effects
Tamoxifen is being used over the past so many years to reduce the risk of reappearance of breast cancer in those who have survived it.

However, some recent studies have shown that tamoxifen is only helpful in reducing the occurrence of a type of breast cancer known as ER-positive, and that it increases the chances of developing ER-negative breast cancer in breast cancer survivors.

After evaluating the results from previous studies, Nelson’s team discovered that tamoxifen and raloxifene advanced the development of blood clots by a huge 60 to 90 percent. However, raloxifene caused less blood clots than tamoxifen.

Also, when compared with a placebo, tamoxifen showed a higher probability of causing endometrial cancer. Further, it is more likely to cause cataracts than raloxifene. Tibolone has been linked to strokes in women above 70 years of age.

Some experts believe that most of the information that the researchers have disclosed now is already known. It is just that now all the information has been clubbed together.

Dr. Scott Maul, a medical oncologist at Oncology Alliance in Milwaukee, elaborated, “They wanted to bring together all these studies under one publication, and try to quantify the benefit of these three different medications and their risk.”

Thorough consultation advised
Maul advised women to consult their doctor before taking any of the drugs to reduce breast cancer risk. Nelson urged women to opt for genetic testing and to utilize that genetic information to get a clearer picture of the amount of risk.

Maul concluded, “Women should only ta ke these (to reduce first-time breast cancer risk) if they are truly at higher risk for breast cancer. If someone has risk factors for heart attack or stroke, these medications may not be a good idea.”

The present study report has been published in the Sept. 15 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.