Toremifene, a drug currently used to treat breast cancer in women, was found to reduce the incidence of prostate cancer for men at high risk for the disease.In a study presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research Third Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, scientists found that patients at all dose levels for toremifene had a lower cumulative incidence of cancer after 12 months of treatment, with the 20 mg dose contributing the greatest effect. All participating patients had high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia or PIN, characterized by abnormal cells in the lining of the prostate ducts. Early research suggests that most patients with high-grade PIN will develop prostate cancer within 10 years, but more research is needed to confirm those findings.
