STAR Trial Still Seeking to Recruit 11,000 Women

The Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR), a major clinical trial designed to determine which drug is more effective in reducing the risk of breast cancer, is still seeking to recruit another 11,000 women.

The trial began in July 1999 and thus far has enrolled 11,307 women at more than 500 cancer centers.

Women participating in the trial must be postmenopausal, over age 35 and have an increased risk of breast cancer as determined by their age, family history of the disease, personal medical history, age of first menstrual period, and age at first live birth.

Women can join STAR if they have an increased risk of breast cancer equal to the risk of an average 60-year-old woman, which is a 1.7 percent risk of breast cancer in five years.

Women in the study are randomly assigned to take either 20 mg tamoxifen or 60 mg raloxifene daily for five years. The women receive regular follow-up examinations, including mammograms and gynecologic exams.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved tamoxifen in 1998 for use in reducing the incidence of breast cancer in women at increased risk of the disease. Raloxifene has been shown to reduce the incidence of breast cancer in a large study of its use to prevent and treat osteoporosis.

Other Sources: Moffitt Cancer Center