Source: DGNews  |  Posted 2 years ago

ANN ARBOR, Mich -- December 2, 2009 -- Even when women at high risk of
developing breast cancer are well informed about the risks and benefits of
using the anti-oestrogen therapy tamoxifen for cancer prevention, only 6% said
they were likely to take it. These are the results of a study that appears
online in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center created a
decision aid designed to inform women about the risks and benefits associated
with tamoxifen that was tailored to each woman’s health history.

In this study, 632 women who were at high risk of developing breast cancer
within the next 5 years participated.

“Tailored information is critical because the risks and benefits vary across
women. This is one of the most detailed tailored decision aids to address
breast cancer prevention. The information about the risks and benefits of
tamoxifen was tailored to each woman’s health history. That means, when women
read this decision aid, they learned about how the drug was likely to affect
them given their age, race, breast cancer history and medical history,” says
lead author Angela Fagerlin, PhD, University of Michigan Medical School and VA
Ann Arbor Healthcare System, both in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

After viewing the decision aid, 41% of women correctly answered 6 questions
about the risks and benefits of tamoxifen and 63% correctly answered at least 5
of the questions.

Despite this understanding, only 29% of women said they were likely to seek
more information about tamoxifen, and only 29% said they would consult their
doctor for it. A scant 6% of women said they were likely to take tamoxifen.

However, 3 months later, less than 1% of participants had started taking
tamoxifen and less than 6% had either consulted their doctor or sought more
information.

“For any given woman, there is not a right or wrong answer in regards to
whether she should take tamoxifen to prevent a first diagnosis of breast
cancer. The goal of decision aids is to explain the risks and benefits in a
clear way so that the woman is able to weigh these factors and make an informed
decision about what is best for her,” Dr. Fagerlin says.

In this study, 80% of women were concerned about the side effects associated
with tamoxifen therapy. These side effects include hot flashes, sexual
problems, as well as rare incidences of endometrial cancer, blood clots, or
cataracts.

“Experts have bemoaned the dearth of women taking these pills, worried that
word has not gotten out about tamoxifen’s ability to prevent breast cancer in
high-risk women. Our study shows that even when the word does get out, most
women are too concerned about the pill’s side effects to want to take it,” says
senior study author Peter Ubel, MD, Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences
in Medicine at University of Michigan.

SOURCE: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment