No Easy Choices for Breast Cancer
Prevention, Lawmakers Hear
Bloomberg
April 21, 1998, 3:55 p.m. PT
No Easy Choices for Breast Cancer Prevention, Lawmakers Hear
Washington, April 21 (Bloomberg) -- Research showing Zeneca
Group's tamoxifen drug can reduce the risk of breast cancer for
some women is not likely to yield a sure-fire protection plan for
American women anytime soon, medical experts told a panel of
lawmakers.
''The decision is a very complex one,'' said Richard
Klausner, director of the National Cancer Institute. ''There will
be no cut-and-dried formula'' for who should be treated.
Klausner and other health officials appeared before a Senate
Appropriations subcommittee on labor, health and human resources
convened by Republican Sen. Arlen Specter.
The hearing was aimed at determining exactly which women
will benefit from the research, first released two weeks ago.
The drug, tamoxifen, was shown in a five year study to
significantly reduce the rate of breast cancers in women with
multiple risk factors for the disease, and has been heralded as
the first treatment of any kind -- including diet and exercise --
to have such an effect. The trial was funded in part by the
National Cancer Institute.
The study results are complicated by other findings which
showed that in some groups of women, the drug significantly
raises the risk of uterine cancer or other life threatening
conditions. Women at high-risk face a complicated weighing of the
treatments benefits and side effects.
Klausner was joined by study leaders, patients and officials
from the National Institutes of Health and the National Women's
Health Network, who all applauded the study's results but
stressed that there is no uniform formula for who should take the
drug to prevent cancer and when.
Women who think they have risk factors, such as family
history or a previous pre-cancerous breast condition, should
consult with their doctors to calculate their actual risk before
considering the drug, they told the committee.
Specter said he called the hearing to find out more about
the research's implications for woman in general, and asked for a
more precise user recipe. The Pennsylvania Republican also raised
questions about how newer research, previewed in the press and to
be presented in full at a cancer conference next month, would
compare to the data on tamoxifen.
Summaries of data to be presented at the conference indicate
Eli Lilly & Co.'s drug Evista may have benefits similar to
tamoxifen without carrying tamoxifen's elevated cancer risks.
While encouraged by the potential for Evista, medical experts
today said no comparisons should be made until more data is
available on the newer drug.
''Tamoxifen is the only drug for which we have the best kind
of evidence'' on cancer prevention, Klausner said.
Tamoxifen is currently approved by the Food and Drug
Administration for the treatment of some breast cancers, and is
sold by Zeneca under the brand name Nolvadex. Evista is FDA
approved for sale to help prevent the osteoporosis bone-thinning
condition common in post menopausal women.
The FDA has said it will review the new use for the drug
under an expedited timeline, public health officials today said
the company has yet to apply for the breast cancer prevention
indication.
--Kristin Reed in Washington (202) 624-1858/ge |
