Breast cancer drug boosts survival rates
Researchers based at St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, who were part of an international study, discovered that an oestrogen suppresser acts as a second line of defence against a recurrence of the disease in post-menopausal women.
They found that women taking Femara, known generically as letrozole, after tamoxifen reduced the risk of the cancer recurring by 43%. And, in cases where the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes at diagnosis, the drug reduced the risk of death by 39%.
