Scientists from Queen Mary University of London found that new drugs to prevent breast cancer provide the greatest benefit to women with high estrogen levels. The research was published in the journal Lancet Oncology.
High levels of this hormone are a risk factor for breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Aromatase inhibitors (e.g., anastrozole), which stop the production of this hormone, have recently been approved for the prevention of breast cancer in postmenopausal women who are at high risk of developing cancer.
In the new study, scientists analyzed data from the IBIS-II study, which included 212 women. They were divided into anastrozole and placebo groups. Women who had high estrogen levels to begin with experienced the greatest benefit from anastrozole: their risk of cancer was reduced by 55%. In women with the lowest hormone levels, the risk was reduced by only 25%.
“The 25% of women with the lowest estradiol levels in our study did not benefit much from taking anastrozole but suffered from side effects of the drug. “A simple blood hormone test may increase the effectiveness of anastrozole if we use it to select the most suitable patients,” said study author Professor Jack Cusick.
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