Breast cancer drug treatment breakthrough

A MAJOR independent landmark study has confirmed that a new drug is highly effective at boosting the survival rate of breast cancer sufferers.

The study of more than 8,000 postmenopausal women in 25 countries with early breast cancer found that the drug letrozole is statistically more effective than tamoxifen, the current standard drug treatment in reducing the risk of breast cancer recurrence after diagnosis and surgery.

The International Breast Cancer Study Group found that letrozole improves survival by 20% and reduced the risk of cancer returning to distant sites by almost 30%.