Malta in worldwide breast cancer drug trial

Post-menopausal women with a family history of breast cancer are being urged to take part in an international trial investigating a drug's effectiveness in preventing the disease.

Malta is one of 21 countries taking part in the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study II (IBIS-II) trial. It is organised by the British charity Cancer Research UK which is testing whether the drug Anastrozole can be used effectively to prevent breast cancer.

"We are trying to determine whether administering this drug for five years will reduce the incidence of breast cancer among high risk women," the trial's local coordinator, Charmaine Apap, said.

She described the trial as an important way to try and prevent the disease and compared the use of Anastrozole for the prevention of breast cancer with the use of aspirin to prevent heart attacks.

Dr Apap, a senior house officer at Sir Paul Boffa Hospital, said 24 women from the islands are taking part in the trial, which will continue recruiting women until 2008.

Another three women with early breast cancer are taking part in the second pillar of the trial, testing the drug's effectiveness in treating the disease. The women are aged between 40 and 70.

Six thousand women from around the world are being recruited to take part in the prevention aspect of the trial, while another 4,000 with early breast cancer are being treated with the drug.

Dr Apap explained that women taking part in the trial would need to take one pill a day for five years, although she added they can drop out of the trial.

Half of the participants are being given Anastrozole while the other half are being given a dummy drug.

Women eligible to take part in the trial, she explained, include those with a family history of breast cancer or other risk factors, like certain types of benign lumps or abnormal mammograms. However, they should not have been diagnosed with the disease.

Apart from the advantage of being regularly monitored for breast cancer and bone density, the participants would also be contributing to finding a way to prevent cancer.

The trial started in 2003 and Malta got on board the following year.

Women interested in taking part in the trial can contact Dr Apap on 2298 7163. More information on the trial can be found on www.ibis-trials.org.uk.