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Nature Reviews Cancer 2, 787–794 (1 October 2002) | doi:10.1038/nrc908

Anti-oestrogenic prevention of breast cancer — the make or break point

Trevor J. Powles

Clinical trials have shown that giving anti-oestrogens to healthy women can reduce the early incidence of breast cancer by |[sim]|40%. However, the large numbers of women treated, compared with the few who get breast cancer, together with the not insignificant toxicity and the unknown long-term clinical benefits and risks, makes this strategy of prevention versus treatment precarious. So how can we improve the odds for the successful use of endocrine chemoprevention?