Brittle bone drug 'prevents cancer'

A drug prescribed to combat brittle bones has been shown to prevent invasive breast cancer.

Scientists from the University of California at San Francisco stumbled on the discovery while investigating whether the drug, raloxifene, protects against heart disease.

Although there was no impact on heart disease, the trial showed that the drug reduced the risk of aggressive, invasive breast cancers by 55%.

Only hormone-sensitive cancers which are fuelled by the female sex hormone oestrogen were affected. They make up the majority of breast cancers.

Sold under the brand name Evista, raloxifene is used both to prevent and treat osteoporosis in post-menopausal women.

It works by activating "receptors" or molecular switches in bone tissue that normally respond to oestrogen.

By blocking the receptors, raloxifene may prevent some of the effects of oestrogen that spur cancer growth, say scientists. They believe it acts in the same way as the highly successful breast cancer drug tamoxifen.

More than 10,000 women took part in the Raloxifene Use for The Heart (RUTH) trial which enrolled women with heart disease or who were at risk for the disease.

Over a period of more than five years, those who took raloxifene were 55% less likely to develop invasive oestrogen-positive breast cancer than those who took a dummy placebo drug. Raloxifene had no effect on non-invasive cancer or cancers not affected by oestrogen.

However there was down side to the treatment. Women given raloxifene were more likely to suffer blood clots and fatal strokes compared with those taking the placebo.

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