Taking Tamoxifen to Prevent Breast Cancer Can Save Lives and Money

Tamoxifen, taken by some women as a preventive measure against breast cancer, saves lives and reduces treatment costs. This is the result of a new study published online in early cancer, a scientific journal Journal of the American Cancer Society. The results of this study suggest that the benefits of tamoxifen to prevent cancer is sufficient for its side effects in postmenopausal women under 55 who became ill with an increased risk of breast cancer to compensate.

Research has shown that tamoxifen protects against breast cancer for years after the end of treatment, but identifying the group of women who may benefit most from the drug as a preventive agent against cancer without serious side effects is a challenge. Side effects of the drug are pulmonary embolism, endometrial cancer, deep vein thrombosis, and acts of Qatar, as well as hot flashes and menopause before.

To investigate women who would benefit most from taking tamoxifen as a cancer prevention drug, Peter Alperin, MD, of Archimedes Inc. in favor of San Francisco, and colleagues used a mathematical model for a population in postmenopausal women under the age of 55 in a virtual simulation of clinical trials comparing tamoxifen with no treatment. The investigators modeled tamoxifen therapy based on an analysis of four randomized, controlled against placebo cancer screening and to assess the impact of tamoxifen on the risk of breast cancer for women 10 years after the end of treatment would be. Cancer incidence and survival information was provided by the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results cancer registry was added, while factors such as non-cancer disease, accidents, quality life and cost of the medical literature were taken.

The researchers found that postmenopausal women aged 55 and under with a diagnosis of 5 years, the risk of breast cancer of 1.66 percent or more, the benefits of tamoxifen are maximized while minimizing side effects. "It can prevent this group of women with tamoxifen for breast cancer saves lives and has a low incidence of side effects," said Dr. Alperin. He added that it also reduces the costs of medical care. "In particular, treatment with tamoxifen chemoprevention prevented 29 cases of breast cancer and 9 died from breast cancer per 1000 women, and saves $ 47 580 per 1000 women in the United States are treated."

These findings may help physicians and their patients while trying to identify the optimal prevention of breast cancer for single women on their current health status and demographic profile of the foundation. In addition, researchers have explored using mathematical models and cost-benefit analysis, as described in this study, different prevention strategies and assess their impact on health and economic outcomes.