49% of women with breast cancer do not follow their treatment properly. The consequence, an increased risk of death by 20% due to recurrences.
1 in 2 women with breast cancer would not follow her treatment properly. This study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, shows that over the years, more and more of these patients are discontinuing their hormone therapy, which is generally prescribed over five years.
Researchers from the Universities of Dundee and Glasgow conducted a retrospective cohort study of 3,361 patients who had been diagnosed with breast cancer between 1993 and 2008 to attempt to assess, on the one hand, their prescriptions, and, on the other hand, their adherence to treatment. Thus, 85% of the participants had received tamoxifen, and 15% aromatase inhibitors. 36% of them died during the study.
While 90% followed their treatment correctly in the first year, they were down to 82% in the second year, 77% in the third year, and only 51% in the fifth year. An abandonment which is not without consequences. According to the researchers, those who gave up their hormone treatment before the end had a 20% increased risk of death, due to the high likelihood of recurrence in breast cancer.
The side effects of these drugs, sometimes difficult to bear, can explain the motivation of women who stop their treatment. Some women, for example, suffer from severe hot flashes, sweating and nausea. They also deplore significant weight gain.
A study published in The Lancet on December 5, 2012 had already suggested the value of prolonged treatments. Indeed, according to these researchers at the University of Oxford, deaths from breast cancer would be halved with a 10-year treatment of tamoxifen, while a conventional treatment over 5 years would be less effective.
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