30.06.2017 In: Menopause
Women at high risk of developing breast cancer may avoid taking the preventive drug tamoxifen because they are confusing naturally-occurring symptoms with side effects, according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), UK.
The researchers say that their findings have implications about how to communicate with women at risk of breast cancer.
Tamoxifen has been shown to reduce the incidence of breast cancer by at least 30 per cent if it is given to high-risk women (for example, those with a family history of breast cancer) before the disease develops.
However, only one in six high-risk women choose to take the drug, and not all of them take it consistently for at least five years.
The new study by QMUL and other institutions found that overall, 69.7 per cent of women adhered to their treatment for at least 4.5 years. Symptoms that were reported included nausea or vomiting, headaches, hot flushes and gynaecological symptoms.
At the six month point, over 40 per cent of women who reported nausea or vomiting failed to adhere to their treatment, regardless of whether they were receiving tamoxifen or a placebo.
Co-author of the paper Dr Ivana Sestak, from QMUL’s Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, said: “We found that the association between nausea, vomiting, headaches, hot flushes and gynaecological symptoms and non-adherence to treatment was largely similar between women taking placebo or tamoxifen.
“The greater the severity, the less likely the women were to adhere to their treatment, with the exception of headaches, which were associated with increased non-adherence of 38 per cent only in the placebo group.”
She added that the results suggest women may be incorrectly attributing age-related symptoms, such as those experienced around the time of menopause, to their medication.
The researchers say that their findings have implications about how to communicate with women at risk of breast cancer.
Tamoxifen has been shown to reduce the incidence of breast cancer by at least 30 per cent if it is given to high-risk women (for example, those with a family history of breast cancer) before the disease develops.
However, only one in six high-risk women choose to take the drug, and not all of them take it consistently for at least five years.
The new study by QMUL and other institutions found that overall, 69.7 per cent of women adhered to their treatment for at least 4.5 years. Symptoms that were reported included nausea or vomiting, headaches, hot flushes and gynaecological symptoms.
At the six month point, over 40 per cent of women who reported nausea or vomiting failed to adhere to their treatment, regardless of whether they were receiving tamoxifen or a placebo.
Co-author of the paper Dr Ivana Sestak, from QMUL’s Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, said: “We found that the association between nausea, vomiting, headaches, hot flushes and gynaecological symptoms and non-adherence to treatment was largely similar between women taking placebo or tamoxifen.
“The greater the severity, the less likely the women were to adhere to their treatment, with the exception of headaches, which were associated with increased non-adherence of 38 per cent only in the placebo group.”
She added that the results suggest women may be incorrectly attributing age-related symptoms, such as those experienced around the time of menopause, to their medication.
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