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appeared 16 June 1999
Osteoporosis Drug Reduces Risk of Breast Cancer
by 76 Percent in Postmenopausal Women, Study Finds
Researchers at UC San Francisco report that a novel osteoporosis prevention drug, called
raloxifene, reduced the risk of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women with
osteoporosis by 76 percent after forty months of treatment.
The final results of the Multiple Outcomes of Raloxifene Evaluation (MORE) trial are
published in the June 16 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
"This is an exciting start because women who are concerned about breast cancer now
have another alternative for reducing their risk of developing the disease and preventing
osteoporosis at the same time," says Steven R. Cummings, UCSF professor of medicine
and epidemiology and lead author of the study. "If raloxifene's benefits continue
over a longer period of time, treatment with the drug may be a way of substantially
reducing a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer."
"These results are dramatic because very few preventive treatments have reduced the
risk of any disease this much," Cummings says. "However, as with any
postmenopausal hormonal therapy, there are both benefits and risks associated with the
drug and therefore women should talk to their doctors about different treatment
options."
Raloxifene belongs to a class of drugs called selective estrogen receptor modulators
(SERMS). SERMS work by mimicking the effects of estrogen in some parts of the body -- for
example, SERMS mimic the positive effects of estrogen on a woman's bones and cholesterol
levels -- while inhibiting estrogen's "bad" effects on a woman's risk of breast
cancer.
One of the most significant benefits of raloxifene is that it reduces the risk of breast
cancer among postmenopausal women without causing an apparent increase in uterine cancer
-- a side effect associated with other drugs in its class such as tamoxifen.
Some of the reported side effects of raloxifene include hot flashes, leg cramps,
peripheral edema and flu-like symptoms. There was also an increased incidence of blood
clots among women who received raloxifene. Cummings says that the study will continue for
another four years to determine the long-term effects of raloxifene on the prevention of
breast cancer among postmenopausal women.
Links:
Full UCSF press release
NIH news release
Journal of the
American Medical Association
UCSF Department of Epidemiology and
Biostatistics
Related Daybreak stories:
Raloxifene Reduces Risk
of Breast Cancer, Study Finds (May, 1998)
Two Years of Novel Therapy
Reduces Spinal Fractures in Postmenopausal Women (September, 1998)
Study Compares Hormone Drug on
Different Age Groups -- Therapy Shows Promise for Some Postmenopausal Women (January,
1998)
Source: Abby Sinnott, News Services |
