Would You Turn Down this Solution to Reduce Your Risk?

Wow--so doctors now have a way to help reduce the risk of getting breast cancer for women who fall into a high-risk category. That's great, right? Well, yes and no. Only 6 percent of this group said they want to sign up for it.

Tamoxifen's a lifesaver

The key to reducing the risk? Taking the drug tamoxifen. Researchers at the University of Michigan Cancer Center published a study about this phenomenon in the December 2009 Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. The scientists first provided all participants with accurate and objective information about the drug tamoxifen and how it works. They then gave these same women a short questionnaire (6 questions) about this drug.

Information doesn't convince women

Forty-one percent of the women could correctly answer all 6 questions about the risks and benefits of taking tamoxifen, while 63 percent correctly answered at least 5 of the 6 questions. Despite the women's general understanding, however, only 29 percent of them said they were likely to seek out more information about this drug, and only 29 percent said they would ask their doctors about it.

A handful (6 percent) said they would likely take this drug to reduce their risk. But the researchers checked back 3 months later and found that fewer than 1 percent of the study participants had started taking tamoxifen, and fewer than 6 percent had either talked to their doctor or sought more information.

Why women balk

Apparently, the primary reason why women decline tamoxifen treatment is their concern about menopausal side effects and about the risks of uterine cancer or blood clots. Although these two risks are low, they do unnerve women. And women also worry how menopausal symptoms would affect the quality of their lives. But dying of breast cancer would have an even bigger impact, wouldn't it!

As many as 10 million women would be eligible to take tamoxifen but few of them will agree to do so. What would you do if you were advised to take this drug?