Chemo, tamoxifen cut second cancer risk
Published: Dec. 26, 2007 at 6:14 PM
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Breast cancer patients given chemotherapy and tamoxifen have a reduced risk of developing a second cancer in the other breast, a Danish researcher found.
Dr. Lisbeth Bertelsen of the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues investigated the relationship between tamoxifen and chemotherapy -- either alone or in combination -- and the risk of cancer in the opposite breast among American and Danish women first diagnosed with breast cancer before age 55.
The study included 1,158 women who developed cancer in one breast and an additional 634 who initially had cancer in one breast then developed a second cancer in the other breast.
The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found the chemotherapy treatment was associated with a 43 percent reduced risk for developing cancer in the opposite breast, compared with no chemotherapy -- the risk reduction lasted up to 10 years after the initial cancer diagnosis.
The study also found tamoxifen use was associated with a 34 percent reduced risk of a second breast cancer, compared with no tamoxifen use, and this reduction continued for five years after diagnosis.
Dr. Lisbeth Bertelsen of the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues investigated the relationship between tamoxifen and chemotherapy -- either alone or in combination -- and the risk of cancer in the opposite breast among American and Danish women first diagnosed with breast cancer before age 55.
The study included 1,158 women who developed cancer in one breast and an additional 634 who initially had cancer in one breast then developed a second cancer in the other breast.
The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found the chemotherapy treatment was associated with a 43 percent reduced risk for developing cancer in the opposite breast, compared with no chemotherapy -- the risk reduction lasted up to 10 years after the initial cancer diagnosis.
The study also found tamoxifen use was associated with a 34 percent reduced risk of a second breast cancer, compared with no tamoxifen use, and this reduction continued for five years after diagnosis.
© 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
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This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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