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News Release

April 8, 2009

Contact: Maureen McGuire, 860-679-4523
e-mail: mmcguire@nso.uchc.edu

New Breast Cancer Prevention Study Is Underway at UConn Health Center

FARMINGTON, CONN. – Most women worry about their risk of breast cancer and wonder what they can do to lower their risk. For women with known risk factors for breast cancer, the anxiety is even more intense.

Now, women at increased risk may be eligible to participate in a new breast cancer prevention study at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Connecticut Health Center.

The ExCel research study is an international study aimed at discovering whether a certain treatment can help prevent breast cancer. The medication is from a class of drugs, aromatase inhibitors, that suppresses estrogen production. Aromatase inhibitors are already approved to treat advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

“This study is looking at a medication that is already approved to treat breast cancer and may have fewer side effects than our existing prevention drugs,” explains Molly Brewer, M.D., director of women’s cancer prevention programs and the Division of Gynecologic Oncology.

The ExCel study will last five years and is expected to follow more than 4,500 postmenopausal women from the United States, Canada and Spain. To be eligible, women must be 35 years of age or older and have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Participants will receive either the study drug or a placebo.

The study is one of several approaches Dr. Brewer and other experts offer to help women prevent cancer. Other initiatives include genetic counseling, a unique colon cancer prevention program and personalized women’s cancer prevention services.

“We strongly encourage all women to learn more about their unique risk factors for cancer. If you are at increased risk for breast cancer, the ExCel trial could be an opportunity to participate in a study evaluating a new class of drugs for breast cancer prevention,” Dr. Brewer adds.

To learn more, call 860-679-2100 to set up an appointment with Dr. Brewer to discuss the study.

According to the American Cancer Society and the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, risk factors for breast cancer include:

  • Gender
  • Age – the incidence of breast cancer increases with age
  • Genetic risk factors – such as the inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations
  • Family history of breast cancer – especially among first-degree relatives (mother, sister or daughter)
  • Personal history of breast cancer
  • Race – white women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer
  • Abnormal breast biopsy reports
  • Early age at start of menstrual cycle and late menopause
  • Previous chest radiation
  • Exposure to DES, also known as Diethylstilbestrol, which is a synthetic estrogen that was prescribed between 1938 to 1971 to help prevent miscarriages

UConn Health includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Home to Bioscience Connecticut, UConn Health pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about UConn Health is available at www.uchc.edu.

Note: News professionals are invited to visit the UConn Health Today news page (http://today.uchc.edu) for regularly updated news and feature stories, photos and media stories. News releases are archived at http://today.uchc.edu/newsreleases/2014. UConn Health news and information is also available on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.