500,000 women in the U.S. are taking tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer recurrence.
Almost half have a genetic variation that reduces the effectiveness of the drug.
For patients with these gene variations, alternative treatments with higher success rates are available!
If all of the women taking tamoxifen had a DNA test and their treatment was properly adjusted, 30,000 breast cancer recurrences would be avoided!
The majority of an FDA advisory panel recommended updating the tamoxifen label in 2006 to reflect this important information; but the change has still not occurred!
Since that time, three additional studies have been published further confirming the importance of genetic testing for tamoxifen; yet most women on tamoxifen still do not know about the test!
Having breast cancer once, is already one time too many!
I am or I know a breast cancer survivor taking tamoxifen, and I promise to learn about and educate either the breast cancer survivor or my physician about tamoxifen DNA testing.
