This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 			
Wednesday, Oct.  21, 1998					
Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343								
NCI  Press Office (301) 496-6641

Marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced new scientific efforts aimed at reducing the risk of developing the disease, as well as new education outreach efforts to encourage early detection and treatment.

Secretary Shalala also submitted to President Clinton today the Federal Coordinating Committee on Breast Cancer's report highlighting five years of progress in collaborative efforts to detect, prevent and treat breast cancer.

"In these last five years, we have seen great strides towards our ultimate goal: the eradication of breast cancer," Secretary Shalala said. "Through the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer - a collaborative public/private partnership - and the Federal Coordinating Committee on Breast Cancer - an inter-agency federal government effort - we have seen significant advances in research, early detection, access to treatment, and quality of care for women with breast cancer."

Shalala announced that plans are underway for the largest ever clinical trial of a drug to reduce women's risk of breast cancer, pending approval by the Food and Drug Administration. If approved, the trial will open next year in 400 sites across the United States, with more than 20,000 postmenopausal women taking part. The trial, "Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene" (STAR) will evaluate the benefits and risks of the drug raloxifene in reducing the risk of breast cancer among women at increased risk of breast cancer but who have not had the disease. The study builds on the success of the recent Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT), which demonstrated the effectiveness of the drug tamoxifen in reducing the risk of developing breast cancer. The STAR study would aim at determining whether raloxifene, recently approved by FDA as an osteoporosis prevention drug for post menopausal women, may be also be effective in reducing breast cancer risk.

At the same time, Secretary Shalala announced new efforts to encourage mammography screening among special populations, especially to older, low income, and minority women, who tend to have the highest breast cancer mortality rates. HHS' Health Care Financing Administration and the National Cancer Institute are joining together to increase awareness of the new annual Medicare mammography benefit and the importance of regularly-scheduled screening mammograms. The new efforts focus on high concentration areas of older women. In addition, HCFA is offering mammogram screenings and/or airing a series of public service announcements geared toward older African- American and Hispanic-American women in the following cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C.

Regular mammograms can reduce the chance of death from breast cancer by one-third or more for women ages 50-69. Despite the potential benefits, 33 percent of women ages 50-64, and 45 percent of women age 65 and older, report not receiving a mammogram during the past two years. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among American women. This year alone, another estimated 180,000 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed, and some 43,500 women will die from the disease.

"Early detection remains our most powerful weapon in the war against breast cancer and I am proud of the achievements we have made since creating the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer in 1993," said Secretary Shalala. "But we need to continue to get the message out that 93 percent of breast cancer cases are successfully treated when detected early. That's the difference between a breast cancer survivor and a statistic."

Tamoxifen, a drug used for more than 20 years to treat breast cancer patients, was the focus of the BCPT, a study of more than 13,000 women at high risk of breast cancer and the first such large-scale study in North America. In April 1998, BCPT researchers released the initial study results about 14 months earlier than expected due to the observation of a significant decrease in the incidence of breast cancer with tamoxifen.

In addition to reducing breast cancer incidence by almost half, tamoxifen reduced the number of bone fractures of the hip. The drug did, however, increase the women's chances of four rare, but life-threatening health problems: endometrial cancer (cancer of the lining of the uterus), blood clots in large veins, blood clots in the lungs, and stroke.

Women participating in the STAR clinical trial must be at increased statistical risk of breast cancer, as determined by factors such as their age, family history of breast cancer, number of breast biopsies, age at first menstrual period, and age at first live birth. They will be randomly assigned to receive tamoxifen or raloxifene daily. They will receive close follow-up examinations, including a mammogram, physical exam, and gynecologic exam, on a regular basis.

The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored research network based in Pittsburgh, will run the trial. NSABP has already selected the 193 main institutions who will participate in STAR, including sites in 48 states, six Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These 193 institutions will form networks with other local physicians, creating an estimated 400 active centers participating in the trial.

Women who wish to be put on a mailing list for information about STAR can do so by Internet on the NSABP homepage (www.nsabp.pitt.edu), by mail to NSABP, Box 21, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15261, or by fax to NSABP at (412) 330-4660. Information about tamoxifen and STAR is also available at the NCI website for clinical trials information (cancertrials.nci.nih.gov). Older women of low income who are not eligible for Medicare may be able to receive a free or low-cost mammogram through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. For information, contact NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER.