The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ 2002 Practice Bulletin #39 on selective estrogen receptor modulators said tamoxifen may be offered to women at high risk of breast cancer (Obstet. Gynecol. 2002;100:839-44). Joint guidelines from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care and the Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative’ Steering Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Care and Treatment of Breast Cancer suggested in 2001 that women whose 5-year risk for breast cancer under the Gail model exceeds 5% may be candidates for tamoxifen preventive therapy (CMAJ 2001;164:1681-90).
The National Cancer Institute estimates that 232,340 breast cancers will be diagnosed in 2013 and 39,620 women will die from the disease.
Dr. Nelson and her associates reported having no financial disclosures other than receiving grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which funded the study.
Twitter: @sherryboschert