A highly sensitive hormone blood test, developed by scientists at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) can determine the effectiveness of the drug anastrozole, the recommended preventative treatment for post-menopausal women at high risk of developing breast cancer.
This new research, published in the Lancet Oncology by Professors Gareth Evans, Anthony Howell and Brian Keevil at MFT, led by Jack Cuzick, and John Snow, Professors of Epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London, found that up to 25 per cent of post-menopausal women at high risk, will not benefit from taking the drug.
Routinely testing hormone levels will enable clinicians to provide a personalised treatment plan for those at high risk of developing breast cancer. This will not only provide reassurance where the treatment is known to have a positive effect, but it will also spare thousands of women unnecessary side effects of taking the drug.
In post-menopausal women, an increased risk of breast cancer is associated with high serum concentrations of oestradiol (a type of oestrogen produced predominantly by the ovaries before the menopause), but little was known about how these hormones affect the response to anastrozole in breast cancer prevention, prior to this research.
Professor D Gareth Evans, Consultant in Medical Genetics and Cancer Epidemiology at MFT, said:
“These results indicate the importance of incorporating serum oestrogen levels into risk models, so women can be reassured despite other risk factors if their levels are low, and likewise, higher levels may make more women eligible for anastrozole.”
