Women Should Take Breast Cancer Drug Longer [Study]

Patients who stay on tamoxifen for 10 years less likely to have cancer again

A widely prescribed drug that plays a big role in reducing the risk of death from breast cancer in women should be taken for twice as long, a new study suggests. Published in The Lancet medical journal on Wednesday, the study shows patients who continued taking the drug tamoxifen for 10 years were less likely to have the cancer come back or die from the disease than women who only took the drug for the standard five years. The findings could change a 15-year standard for cancer patients. About 227,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year in the U.S. In 2011, an estimated 27,000 new cases occurred in black women, who have a higher incidence rate of the cancer before age 40 and are more likely to succumb to it than white women, according to the Komen Center for the Cure. (New York Times)

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