Breast cancer chemoprevention: little progress in practice? The Lancet, March 2014 Vol. 383(9922), p.1018-20.
Cameron, D.A.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62555-6/fulltext?rss=yes
In The Lancet, Jack Cuzick and colleagues report the first results from IBIS-II (International Breast cancer Intervention Study II), in which 3864 postmenopausal women at high risk of breast cancer were randomly assigned to receive the potent, non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor anastrozole or placebo every day for 5 years. After a median follow-up of 5 years, 40 (2%) of 1920 women in the anastrozole group and 85 (4%) of 1944 in the placebo group had developed breast cancer (hazard ratio 0·47, 95% CI 0·32—0·68). This finding is in keeping with those of other similar studies.So far, unsurprisingly, the investigators have not recorded evidence for a difference in breast cancer or all-cause mortality: 18 deaths had been reported in the anastrozole group and 17 in the placebo group.
