Abstract
Current prevention trials have shown that tamoxifen can reduce the incidence of breast cancer by about 30%–40% in high-risk women, but that the risk of thromboembolic disease and endometrial cancer are increased about twofold. An alternative approach for postmenopausal women is to use an aromatase inhibitor to reduce oestrogen to very low levels. Data from the ATAC adjuvant trial indicate that the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole is more effective than tamoxifen in reducing recurrence and preventing new contralateral tumours, and also has a more favourable side-effect profile. This has led us to launch a new prevention trial — IBIS-II — in 6,000 high-risk postmenopausal women comparing anastrozole against placebo. A parallel trial will compare anastro zole against tamoxifen in 4,000 women with locally excised DCIS.
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Abbreviations
- ATAC:
-
arimidex, tamoxifen alone or in combination
- BMD:
-
bone mineral density
- BRCA1:
-
breast cancer gene 1
- CI:
-
confidence interval
- DCIS:
-
ductal carcinoma in situ
- DXA:
-
dual x-ray absorptiometry
- EBCC:
-
European Breast Cancer Conference
- HR:
-
hazard ratio
- IBIS:
-
International Breast Cancer Intervention Study
- OR:
-
odds ratio
- RMH:
-
Royal Marsden Hospital
- SERMs:
-
selective oestrogen receptor modulators
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© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Cuzick, J. (2003). Aromatase Inhibitors in Prevention — Data from the ATAC (Arimidex, Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination) Trial and the Design of IBIS-II (the Second International Breast Cancer Intervention Study). In: Senn, HJ., Morant, R. (eds) Tumor Prevention and Genetics. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 163. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55647-0_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55647-0_9
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