BREAST CANCER PREVENTION TRIAL SHOWS MAJOR BENEFIT, SOME RISK: Women from Atlanta Play Vital Role in Landmark Trial

April 1998

Media Contacts: Sarah Goodwin, 404/727-3366 - sgoodwi@emory.edu
Kathi Ovnic, 404/727-9371 - covnic@emory.edu
http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/

Women at increased risk of breast cancer now have the option to consider taking tamoxifen (NolvadexR) to reduce their chances of developing the disease, says Winship Cancer Center surgical oncologist, Toncred Marya Styblo, M.D., principal investigator of the Emory component of the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT).

Six years after its inception, BCPT showed a 45 percent reduction in breast cancer incidence among the high-risk participants who took tamoxifen, a drug used for the past two decades to treat breast cancer. As a result, investigators released the initial study results in early April -- about 14 months sooner than expected -- and notified the 13,388 women participants of the findings so those women who had been taking a placebo could consider starting tamoxifen therapy after consulting with their personal physicians. Some 36 Atlanta-area women participated in the Emory study sites at Emory University Hospital and Grady Memorial Hospital.

Participants will continue to be followed by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), the Pittsburgh-based research network that conducted the trial with support from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Women in the study were randomly assigned to receive tamoxifen or a placebo pill and neither participants nor their physicians were aware of the treatment assignment, a process called "double-blinding."

Dr. Styblo recommends to women at high risk for breast cancer who are considering taking tamoxifen to discuss their options with their personal physician.

As with all medical decisions, she says, benefits and risks must be considered.

The study showed that tamoxifen did increase the risk of three rare but life-threatening health problems: endometrial cancer (cancer of the lining of the uterus), pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung) and deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in major veins).

For additional information on tamoxifen, contact Emory study coordinator Caryn Shulman, R.N., at 404/ 778-4713.

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