Breast Cancer Drug Boost

Raloxifene and breast cancer. There has been a great deal of press interest recently on whether the osteoporosis drug Raloxifene can have an impact on the outcome for breast cancer patients. But what’s the evidence? Does this drug reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer?

The Italian study switched women taking the tamoxifen therapy to the aromatase inhibitor 2 to 3 years into the normal 5 year regiment. According to the results, there was improved performance of the aromatase inhibitors. This means that not only is it more efficient at fighting cancer, it will also allow users to avoid the adverse side affects such as endometrial cancer and strokes created by the other medication

Dr. Gary M. Freedman, a radiation oncologist at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia said,”There’s still a lot of questions that remain, but this study confirms that five years of tamoxifen alone is really becoming the wrong answer for most postmenopausal women. At this point, you have to say that aromatase inhibitors are in the mix of treatment at some point.”

I hope the results of this study will save the lives of the nearly 10,000 women who die each year from this type of cancer. According to HealthDay, ?The drug was tested in a trial involving 400 women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer that was HER2 positive. Common side effects included diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and rash. A small percentage of participants also had a decrease in heart function that may have been characterized by shortness of breath.?

Cancer experts are encouraged by the results but warn that this trial was conducted in a particular group of postmenopausal women with heart disease and that therefore the results may not necessarily be applicable to other women – and further research will be needed to confirm the findings. Some commentators have also raised worries that this study was primarily designed to investigate the effects of raloxifene in reducing the risk of heart disease – which it didn’t do. They fear that the number of women in the trial might not have been big enough to properly assess breast cancer risks.

Related posts:

1. About Breast Cancer
2. Breast Cancer Myths
3. American Heart Association Updating Prevention Guidelines
4. Treatments Of Lung Cancer – Chemotherapy
5. Herbal Remedies For Menopause