cancer, thus increasing chances of cure, rather than preventing it altogetherPrimary prevention is an approach which attempts to stop the disease before it appearsA study known as the breast cancer prevention trial provided evidence that the drug tamoxifen reduces risk of breast cancer. The final data showed a fifty percent decrease in the risk for noninvasive cancer and a 49 percent decrease in the risk of invasive cancerThe FDA approved the use of tamoxifen for risk reduction for women who meet the criteria of the studyIt is not known if cancer is prevented forever or only suppressed for a timeHowever, use of tamoxifen appears to increase risk of uterine cancerRaloxifen is a drug related to tamoxifen but is claimed to have no adverse effect on the uterine. It seems promising, but has not yet been proven to be more effective than tamoxifen, or to have less side effectsthe national cancer institute has undertaken a five year study, called the STAP trial, comparing the preventive benefits of tamoxifen and raloxifenwomen at extremely high risk for developing breast cancer are sometimes advised to have a prophylactic mastectomy, or a mastectomy before any sign of cancerprophylactic mastectomies should be considered in the following cases-women who have undergone several biopsies so the breast is severely deformed-women whose mammograms show findings that are increasingly hard interpret-women whose breast biopsies do not indicate cancer but do show severe cell atypia, which is a strong risk factorThere are three options available for reducing risk of breast cancer associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2.-one option is to be screened early and regularly-another is to consider prophylactic mastectomy-a third option is to begin using tamoxifen or to participate in clinical trials using SERMSthere is currently some effort being made to treat or even prevent breast cancer through bolstering the immune system. Results are uncertaintesting for a vaccine ...
