{"id":1449,"date":"2009-04-13T08:28:35","date_gmt":"2009-04-13T12:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=1449"},"modified":"2015-09-24T11:04:55","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T15:04:55","slug":"breast-cancer-prevention-study-launched-for-women-with-increased-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2009\/04\/breast-cancer-prevention-study-launched-for-women-with-increased-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Breast Cancer Prevention Study Launched for Women with Increased Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_2253\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2253\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Breast_Cancer_Prevent-_lg.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2253 img-responsive lazyload\" title=\"Dr. Molly Brewer\" data-src=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Breast_Cancer_Prevent-_lg-300x216.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Molly Brewer of the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center is leading a new breast cancer prevention study. Photo by Alan Grant\" width=\"300\" height=\"216\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Breast_Cancer_Prevent-_lg-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Breast_Cancer_Prevent-_lg.jpg 700w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/216;\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2253\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Molly Brewer of the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center is leading a new breast cancer prevention study. Photo by Alan Grant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Many 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.<\/p>\n<p>Now, women at increased risk may be eligible to participate in a new breast cancer prevention study offered at the Health Center\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/cancer.uchc.edu\/\">Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis 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,\u201d says <a href=\"http:\/\/uconndocs.uchc.edu\/PhysProfile.asp?ID=17798\">Dr. Molly Brewer,<\/a> director of women\u2019s cancer prevention programs and the Division of Gynecologic Oncology.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>According to the American Cancer Society and the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, risk factors for breast cancer include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gender \u2013 simply being female increases the risk of breast cancer;<\/li>\n<li>Age \u2013 the incidence of breast cancer increases with age;<\/li>\n<li>Genetic risk factors \u2013 such as the inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations;<\/li>\n<li>Family history of breast cancer \u2013 especially among first-degree relatives (mother, sister, or daughter);<\/li>\n<li>Personal history of breast cancer;<\/li>\n<li>Race \u2013 white women are slightly more likely than others to develop breast cancer;<\/li>\n<li>Abnormal breast biopsy reports;<\/li>\n<li>Early age at start of menstrual cycle and late menopause;<\/li>\n<li>Previous chest radiation;<\/li>\n<li>Exposure to DES (Diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic estrogen that was prescribed between 1938 to 1971 to help prevent miscarriages).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The study is one of several approaches Brewer and other experts at the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center offer to help women prevent cancer. Other initiatives include genetic counseling, an innovative colon cancer prevention program, and personalized women\u2019s cancer prevention services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe strongly encourage all women to learn more about their unique risk factors for cancer,\u201d says Brewer. \u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To learn more, call 860-679-2100 to set up an appointment with Brewer to discuss the study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2230,2231,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[58],"class_list":["post-1449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cancer","category-health-well-being","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-07 09:09:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1449"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104747,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449\/revisions\/104747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1449"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=1449"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}