Longer use of Cancer Drug ups the Effect

An International study that was done for 15 years has found that the drug Tamoxifen, the most common drug used against breast cancer, used in women with ERpositive breast cancer cuts the number of breast cancer deaths significantly besides reducing the risk of developing cancer when taken for over 10 years instead of five as is the current standard of care.

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Of all the breast cancer cases that come in India, over 40% are ER-positive cases. The drug Tamoxifen is given every day for five years once the cancer has been removed surgically and this reduces the mortality rate of breast cancer even after 15 years post diagnosis.

The new study included over 12,000 patients from over three dozen countries. The chief of medical oncology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr Vinod Raina, said that over 3,000 of the total subjects in the study were from India and over 30 Indian centres were a part of the study.

[Read: Ayurvedic Treatment for Breast Cancer]

When the drug is give for five years, the death rate and risk of recurrence is reduced by 30%, but when it is given for five years, the risk of recurrence and death rate reduces by 50%.

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