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By Kirsten Houmann, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- While as many as 10 million women could be eligible to take the drug tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer, side effects like hot flashes, sexual problems and blood clots discourage many from taking the step.
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A new study suggests women at high risk for breast cancer who are informed about the risks and benefits of using the drug tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention aren't likely to choose to take the drug.
Researchers at the University of Michigan gave study participants -- all women at high risk for breast cancer -- a decision aid that contained objective information about the risks and benefits of tamoxifen that was tailored to each woman's health history.
"They knew what their risks were if they did nothing, and then we told them, here's how likely all these things are if you take this pill," Peter Ubel, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, told Ivanhoe. "We went to extraordinary lengths, and why? Because I think this is probably the standard for how we should help people make difficult decisions."
After viewing the information, 41 percent of women could correctly answer six of six questions about the risks and benefits of the drug, and 63 percent correctly answered at least five questions. Results show 29 percent of women said they were likely to seek out more information about tamoxifen, 29 percent said they would ask their doctor about the drug and only 6 percent said they were likely to take it.
Three months later, researchers found fewer than 1 percent of participants had started taking tamoxifen. Eighty percent of participants said they were worried about side effects.
"There are 10 million women whose risk of breast cancer is high enough in the next five years that this is an option for them," Dr. Ubel said. "If you are one of these 10 million women you owe it to yourself to understand the risks and benefits of these drugs, and decide whether the benefits, for you, outweigh the risks."
Source: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, December 2009
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