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SYNTHESIS- Logo
A publication  of the UC Davis Cancer Center
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"" First cancer research endowment established
"" Toward a test for ovarian cancer
"" New drug extends lung cancer survival 22 percent
  Portal to health
  Nigerian-born veterinarian wins award to support cancer research
  Novel compound targets leukemia and lymphoma cells
  Snacks and kids' health
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"" Planned Rocklin facility to offer outpatient cancer treatment
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"" Cancer help in Vietnamese
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"" Do women who take tamoxifen to
prevent breast cancer live longer?
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"" $3.3 million for basic science research in cancer
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"" Joyce Raley Teel Award
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"" Honoring survivors
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Current Issue: VOLUME 8. NO 2. SPRING/SUMMER 2006
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NEWS
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Do women who take tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer live longer?

New research from UC Davis and three other universities suggests that most women who take tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer do not extend their life expectancy. The study was published in the Sept. 1 issue of the American Cancer Society's journal Cancer.

"We found that for women at the lower end of the high-risk range for developing breast cancer, there is a very small likelihood that taking tamoxifen will reduce mortality," said lead author Joy Melnikow, a professor of family and community medicine at UC Davis.

Groups such as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommend that physicians counsel women who have at least a 1.67-percent chance of developing breast cancer over the next five years about the benefits and risks of taking tamoxifen to prevent the disease.

Melnikow's work suggests a 3-percent risk threshold is more appropriate. The study showed that women above this risk level can expect to live longer if they take tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention.

In addition to its use in breast cancer prevention, tamoxifen is an effective breast cancer treatment. The study did not question the drug's benefits as a treatment for the disease.

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UC DAVIS CANCER CENTER
4501 X Street
Sacramento, CA 95817

cancer.center@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu

© 2006 UC Regents. All rights reserved.

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