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prescription pills spilling out(BlackDoctor.org) — Breast cancer prevention studies are clinical trials (research studies conducted with people) that explore ways of reducing the risk, or chance, of developing breast cancer. Prevention studies usually involve women who have not had breast cancer, but are at high risk of developing the disease. Through such studies, scientists hope to determine what steps are effective in reducing the risk of breast cancer in women of all races and ethnic backgrounds.

Most breast cancer prevention research is based on evidence linking the development of this disease, in many cases, with exposure to the hormone estrogen. The focus of several recent breast cancer prevention studies has been on testing the effectiveness of drugs called selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). SERMs are drugs that have some anti-estrogen properties and some estrogen-like properties. Their anti-estrogen activity may help reduce the risk of breast cancer by blocking the effects of estrogen on breast tissue. Their estrogen-like properties may help prevent the loss of bone density in postmenopausal women; however, SERMs may cause bone loss in premenopausal women.

The Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT)

The Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT) was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and conducted by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP). The BCPT was designed to see whether tamoxifen (Nolvadex), a SERM, can prevent breast cancer in women who are at an increased risk of developing this disease. The study began recruiting participants in April 1992 and closed enrollment in September 1997. This study involved 13,388 premenopausal and postmenopausal women at more than 300 centers across the United States and Canada.

Results showed 49 percent fewer diagnoses of invasive breast cancer in women who were randomized to take tamoxifen compared with women who were randomized to take a placebo (an inactive substance that looks the same as, and is administered in the same way as, a drug in a clinical trial). Women on tamoxifen also had 49 percent fewer diagnoses of noninvasive breast tumors, such as ductal or lobular carcinoma in situ. Nine women died of breast cancer, three women in the tamoxifen group and six women in the placebo group (1).

In the BCPT, most of the side effects associated with tamoxifen were temporary. However, there were some long-term risks, including several serious health problems: endometrial cancer (cancer of the lining of the uterus), uterine sarcoma (cancer of the muscular wall of the uterus), pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung), deep vein thrombosis (blood clot in a large vein), and stroke. Because of these risks, women taking tamoxifen should be monitored by their doctors for any sign of serious side effects. All BCPT participants have been asked to undergo regular follow-up examinations.

BCPT participants who were randomized to the tamoxifen group and had not completed 5 years of tamoxifen therapy when the study ended were given the opportunity to continue on therapy. Postmenopausal women who had been taking the placebo were invited to participate in another trial, the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR). (See the following section for a description of this trial.) Women in the BCPT placebo group also have the option of seeking tamoxifen from their doctor.

The Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR)

The NSABP is conducting the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene, known as STAR. The study is funded primarily by the NCI. The 19,000 participants are postmenopausal women who are at least 35 years old and are at increased risk for developing breast cancer. The study will determine how raloxifene (Evista®), another SERM, compares with tamoxifen in reducing the incidence of breast cancer in women who are at an increased risk of developing the disease. As with tamoxifen, most of the known side effects of raloxifene are temporary. However, like tamoxifen, raloxifene increases the risk of pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. STAR is closed to new participants, and results are expected in the summer of 2006.

Capital Area SERM Study

Breast Cancer Prevention Studies  was originally published on blackdoctor.org

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