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30/09/2003
'Next big step' in breast cancer treatment launched
Cancer Research UK scientists will today embark on the next big step towards preventing breast cancer with the launch of a major new trial called IBIS II.
The 10-year study will test a new drug called anastrozole and involve 10,000 healthy women who are at an increased risk of the disease. Anastrozole has already been shown to be the most effective hormone treatment for breast cancer but this will be the first time the drug has been examined as a preventive measure.
Researchers believe that, in post-menopausal women, anastrozole could reduce the risk of breast cancer by more than 50%. Around 30,000 postmenopausal women are diagnosed with the disease in the UK annually, so if successful this intervention could lead to several thousand fewer women developing breast cancer each year.
Both anastrozole and tamoxifen work by interfering with the female hormone oestrogen, which is known to be the most important cause of breast cancer.
The trial follows the successful IBIS-I study which showed that tamoxifen reduces the incidence of breast cancer by a third in women at a higher risk of the disease. During trials of anastrozole as a treatment for early breast cancer, researchers noticed that women taking the drug were around 40% less likely to be diagnosed with a second cancer in the opposite breast compared to women taking tamoxifen.
To be eligible for IBIS II, women must be post-menopausal, not taking HRT and have at least twice the normal risk of breast cancer – for example someone whose mother or sister had breast cancer before the age of 50, or who has two family members with the disease. The trial will compare anastrozole with a placebo and look at how many women develop breast cancer as well as any side effects of the drug.
Although only half of the women on the trial will receive the new drug, all of the women will receive a bone scan, breast screening every 18 months and the best available care and monitoring.
Over 40 centres are now open for recruitment worldwide, including 20 in the UK.
(gmcg)
The 10-year study will test a new drug called anastrozole and involve 10,000 healthy women who are at an increased risk of the disease. Anastrozole has already been shown to be the most effective hormone treatment for breast cancer but this will be the first time the drug has been examined as a preventive measure.
Researchers believe that, in post-menopausal women, anastrozole could reduce the risk of breast cancer by more than 50%. Around 30,000 postmenopausal women are diagnosed with the disease in the UK annually, so if successful this intervention could lead to several thousand fewer women developing breast cancer each year.
Both anastrozole and tamoxifen work by interfering with the female hormone oestrogen, which is known to be the most important cause of breast cancer.
The trial follows the successful IBIS-I study which showed that tamoxifen reduces the incidence of breast cancer by a third in women at a higher risk of the disease. During trials of anastrozole as a treatment for early breast cancer, researchers noticed that women taking the drug were around 40% less likely to be diagnosed with a second cancer in the opposite breast compared to women taking tamoxifen.
To be eligible for IBIS II, women must be post-menopausal, not taking HRT and have at least twice the normal risk of breast cancer – for example someone whose mother or sister had breast cancer before the age of 50, or who has two family members with the disease. The trial will compare anastrozole with a placebo and look at how many women develop breast cancer as well as any side effects of the drug.
Although only half of the women on the trial will receive the new drug, all of the women will receive a bone scan, breast screening every 18 months and the best available care and monitoring.
Over 40 centres are now open for recruitment worldwide, including 20 in the UK.
(gmcg)
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