EDITORIAL – New breast cancer pill just in time for October

With breast cancer awareness month just one day away, it’s encouraging to see a major… With breast cancer awareness month just one day away, it’s encouraging to see a major breakthrough in modern medicine that gives women – and men – afflicted with breast cancer a higher potential for a second chance.

Recently, the United Kingdom introduced a new pill to combat breast cancer by cutting the risk of relapse by almost 30 percent, reducing the chances that cancer will appear in the other breast by 50 percent.

As of now, Aromasin – a drug that shuts down oestrogen production, decreasing the chances for relapse – is available for women via prescription in the U.K. However, it is being dispensed to women undergoing treatment with tamoxifen for at least two years after surgery.

Tamoxifen, one of the first in the line of breast cancer-fighting drugs, counteracts oestrogen production as opposed to stopping it altogether. Women are advised to be on this drug for two years because it’s the most effective at that time, and it’s a lot cheaper than other drugs.

Arimidex, the predecessor to Aromasin, also halts the production of oestrogen. Women are advised to take this drug for five years. While this drug was effective, there were some concerns with the fact that it shuts down oestrogen for five full years. Normally, oestrogen is a hormone that naturally protects against osteoporosis, a disease that degenerates bones.

Because Arimidex left such great risk for osteoporosis, Aromasin was the happy medium that inhibited the deadly oestrogen, but not for so long that it threatened women’s bone health.

Of course, no medicine is foolproof. Women should definitely consult their physician to ensure that the proper treatment matches up with the severity of their breast cancer.

But Aromasin is undoubtedly a drug that shows progress. While the risk of osteoporosis is still a concern, Aromasin has had high results of satisfaction and less side effects than tamoxifen’s life-threatening blood clots, stroke and cancer of the womb lining.

Hopefully the Food and Drug Administration will soon make it available in the United States, because women who have taken tamoxifen for two years – when it’s the most effective – deserve to switch to something that increases their chances of remission.

Also, reports say that steadily rising breast cancer numbers in the United States have leveled off. But this breakthrough shows that money invested in research is not in vain. We must continue to support those who dedicate their lives to saving them one research study at a time.

Also, more support must be given to the women who are living with this disease. A national survey taken by the Cosmetic Executive Women Foundation’s Cancer and Careers program asserts that only 1 percent of women feel supported by their employers.

It’s essential that we are a sensitive and supportive society to those battling this disease. Someone living with breast cancer isn’t only in your grandmother’s generation; she could be sitting next to you in class.