OUR LADY OF MERCY CANCER CENTER SEEKS PARTICIPANTS FOR BREAST CANCER PREVENTION STUDY

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Contact: Fred Yaeger
    Ian Bishop
    (914) 423-7972
Pager: (914) 445-0262

BREAST CANCER PREVENTION STUDY SEEKS PARTICIPANTS
              
The Comprehensive Cancer Center at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center in the Bronx, New York, is providing free breast cancer risk assessments and seeks to enroll high-risk women in a national study on tamoxifen and raloxifene for the prevention of breast cancer.

Sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, this important study is designed to determine whether the osteoporosis prevention and treatment drug raloxifene (Evista®) is more effective than tamoxifen (Nolvadex®) in reducing breast cancer development. Tamoxifen was shown to reduce the chance of developing breast cancer by about half in the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT), a study of over 13,000 pre-menopausal and postmenopausal women with an increased risk of breast cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of tamoxifen to reduce the incidence of breast cancer in women at increased risk of the disease in October 1998. Raloxifene was shown to reduce the incidence of breast cancer in a large osteoporosis trial, the MORE study.

"Tamoxifen is a medically proven intervention, but it is not perfect," said Janice P. Dutcher, Associate Director of Clinical Affairs, at Our Lady of Mercy's Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Women who are at an increased risk of breast cancer need options for preventing this disease with the least amount of side effects, and our clinical trial is a concerted effort to find one. The only way to prove which is the best option is to do a clinical trial in which the risks and benefits of raloxifene are directly compared with the risks and benefits of tamoxifen."

In order to participate in the study, women must be 35 years of age or older, post-menopausal and at increased risk of developing breast cancer. To determine if a woman is at increased risk, Our Lady of Mercy provides women with an individualized, computerized assessment that determines their likelihood of developing breast cancer.

"Most women may not be at high enough risk to participate in our study," said Dr. Dutcher, "but we at Our Lady of Mercy Comprehensive Cancer Center consider this risk assessment, done without charge or obligation, to be a valuable public health service."

Once a woman chooses to participate in the study, she will be randomly assigned to receive either 20 mg tamoxifen or 60 mg raloxifene daily for five years and will have regular follow-up examinations, including clinical breast exams, mammograms and gynecologic exams. Funds are available for those women without health insurance.

Patricia Cahill-Parks who recently enrolled in the study states, "Cancer runs in my family and if there is a study that can help prevent me and others from getting it, then it's worth getting involved. For me there was no hesitation".
For a free breast cancer risk assessment and/or more information about the Tamoxifen/ Raloxifene Breast Cancer Prevention Study, contact Maria Serrano at Our Lady of Mercy's Comprehensive Cancer Center at 718-920-9685.





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