Drug cuts recurrence of breast cancer

Letrozole, a drug that derails the body’s production of estrogen, reduces breast cancer recurrences in women who have exhausted the usefulness of the anticancer drug tamoxifen, a new drug trial has revealed.

Tamoxifen stops breast cancers in many women by interfering with estrogen’s proliferative effect on tumor cells. But taking tamoxifen for more than 5 years provides no additional benefit, compared with going off the drug after that period.