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Recent results from clinical trials using SERMs to reduce the risk of breast cancer

Victor G Vogel1

  • 1Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Magee-Womens Hospital, 300 Halket Street, Room 3524, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. vvogel@mail.magee.edu

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|January 31, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) like tamoxifen significantly reduce breast cancer risk. Studies show tamoxifen lowered invasive breast cancer incidence by up to 49% and also reduced benign breast disease.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) are crucial in treating invasive breast cancer.
  • Chemoprevention aims to prevent or reverse precancerous lesions using chemical agents.
  • Tamoxifen's observed reduction in contralateral breast cancer led to its investigation for prevention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of tamoxifen and raloxifene in breast cancer chemoprevention.
  • To assess the impact of SERMs on benign breast disease and the need for biopsies.
  • To explore the role of hormone levels and aromatase inhibitors in breast cancer risk reduction.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of four large trials investigating tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention.
  • Comparison of tamoxifen with placebo in randomized prevention trials.
  • Evaluation of raloxifene's efficacy and side effect profile against tamoxifen.
  • Assessment of serum hormone levels (estrone sulfate, testosterone, estradiol) in relation to breast cancer risk.

Main Results:

  • Tamoxifen reduced invasive breast cancer risk by 49% in the NSABP BCPT.
  • Other trials showed tamoxifen reduced breast cancer incidence by 38%.
  • Tamoxifen also decreased benign breast disease and breast biopsies.
  • Raloxifene demonstrated comparable risk reduction to tamoxifen in high-risk postmenopausal women with fewer side effects.

Conclusions:

  • Tamoxifen is an effective breast cancer chemopreventive agent, significantly reducing invasive cancer risk.
  • Raloxifene offers a comparable alternative with a potentially better side effect profile for high-risk postmenopausal women.
  • Further research is ongoing to evaluate aromatase inhibitors for breast cancer risk reduction.

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