This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Healthy women should be given breast cancer pill, NICE advises
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued draft guidelines recommending that healthy women in England should take pills, ranging from tamoxifen, raloxifene and anastrozole, to cut their risk of breast cancer.
Anastrozole, which has become available for the first time, is not only cheaper than its alternatives but has fewer-side-effects and is more effective. Trials of the drug showed of the 1,000 patients taking anastrozole for five years, 35 cancer cases would be prevented compared with 21 for tamoxifen.
Anastrozole is not suitable for pre-menopausal women as it causes drug-induced menopause and can weaken bones, however it does avoid two of tamoxifen's more serious side-effects - an increased risk of developing a blood-clotting disease, and an increased risk of developing womb cancer.
Prof Mark Baker from NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) said: "Our draft guideline update recommends the use of anastrozole as a first-line treatment for post-menopausal women at high or medium risk of breast cancer who don't have osteoporosis.
"The evidence examined by the committee suggests anastrozole will not only reduce the number of breast cancer cases in these women compared to tamoxifen, but it is also a more cost-effective option."
Baroness Morgan from the charity, Breast Cancer Now, welcomed the treatment but questioned how accessible they would be: “This updated guideline is a great first step but we now need to ensure that these risk-reducing options actually make their way to patients that could benefit. Ultimately, if the full potential of anastrozole is to be realised for post-menopausal women, there needs to be far greater awareness and support for GPs in prescribing off-label treatments."
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