Preventing Hormone-Dependent Breast Cancer in High-Risk Women

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Chemoprevention is the use of specific natural or synthetic chemical agents to reverse, suppress, or prevent the progression of premalignant lesions to invasive carcinoma. Four major trials have used tamoxifen, the prototypical selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), as a breast cancer chemopreventive agent with differing results. The Royal Marsden trial (1), a pilot study for the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS-I) trial (2), and the initial analysis of the Italian tamoxifen prevention study (3) showed no decrease in the incidence of breast cancer among women using tamoxifen. By contrast, both the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) P-1 study (4) and the IBIS-I trial (2) did show reduction in breast cancer risk with tamoxifen.