Thousands of women offered anastrozole to help prevent breast cancer

Can you identify the trials undertaken and results and evidence that identified that it halves reoccurrence in breast cancer.

Can it only be taken post-menopause? I am 52 with strong family history of breast cancer. I’d like to do preventative treatment.

I am 61 with a family history of breast cancer ( sister 2017 diagnosis and mother died 1988 ) I was offered Anastrozole in 2017 and declined. Now I wonder whether I should take this drug.
I am fit and healthy and only medication I take 10 mg statin. I can’t decide what I should do. Any advice would be appreciated
Any advise ?

I had a right sided lumpectomy. Didn’t suspect anything was wrong until I had mastectomy. I was given a lumpectomy as it seems there is a push for breast conserving surgery. Mastectomy was not given as an option at any time. I have had a terrible time on the drugs, and Tamoxifen gave me a blood clot. Other meds have made my joints ache to the point I am bent over. As I already have osteoarthritis this has made things so much worse. If I had been fully clued up I would have chosen a mastectomy without follow up drugs. To me this would have been so much better than being on drugs for years . Julia Bradbury TV presenter also chose this route. Even now I would rather they took me in and did a mastectomy rather than have yet more years on these horrible drugs. I feel this is a right of every woman.

I had Breast Cancer (Right) in 2004 (Er+ive) had a lumpectomy and Radio Therapy and I agreed to do a Clinical Trial Tamoxifen vs Aromatase Inhibitor Letrozole. I chose to stay with AI. I was on them for 15+ years feeding back information to Novartis. I came off them in 2019 as the benefits were outweighed by the side-effects. In 2021 I had a new cancer in the same Breast (Triple Negative) which at the moment can’t be treated. I had a Mastectomy and see my Surgeon annually after a mammogram on the other Breast. Not sure that taking AI again would help in this case even in the other Breast?. But I am very pleased it is being offered to woman to prevent the onset of cancer, it certainly kept me free for 15 years!

I had left sided breast cancer in 2000 treated with a lumpectomy and 30 zaps of radiotherapy. I am adopted so have no family history. I was on tamoxifen for 10 years, then it was discontinued. In 2020 cancer returned in the other breast with metastases in liver and spine. Surely as I had had breast cancer once I should have been offered the above treatment, but I was not. Please consider that if you have had it once you should be carefully monitored. I will not benefit now, but perhaps someone else in the future will be.

I have a friend who is at high risk of getting breast cancer and as soon as the drug Anastrozole was announced in the news as being available contacted her clinicians about being prescribed this drug. So far she has been declined. One of the reasons being cost when I believe the tablets are only 4p each and one per day. Surely a lot cheaper for prevention rather than cure down the line?