Anti-oestrogenic prevention of breast cancer--the make or break point

Nat Rev Cancer. 2002 Oct;2(10):787-94. doi: 10.1038/nrc908.

Abstract

Clinical trials have shown that giving anti-oestrogens to healthy women can reduce the early incidence of breast cancer by approximately 40%. However, the large numbers of women treated, compared with the few who get breast cancer, together with the not insignificant toxicity and the unknown long-term clinical benefits and risks, makes this strategy of prevention versus treatment precarious. So how can we improve the odds for the successful use of endocrine chemoprevention?

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / therapeutic use*
  • Breast Neoplasms / prevention & control*
  • Clinical Trials as Topic
  • Estrogen Receptor Modulators / therapeutic use*
  • Estrogens / adverse effects
  • Estrogens / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Models, Anatomic
  • Models, Biological
  • Models, Chemical
  • Random Allocation
  • Receptors, Estrogen / metabolism
  • Risk Factors
  • Tamoxifen / adverse effects
  • Tamoxifen / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal
  • Estrogen Receptor Modulators
  • Estrogens
  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Tamoxifen