As for future directions, the committee stressed a need for addressing "the many unresolved issues related to the poor uptake of breast cancer chemoprevention agents in women who are at increased risk of breast cancer."
An estimated 2 million or more women could benefit from breast cancer chemoprevention, yet the agents recommended in this guideline are used infrequently for breast cancer risk reduction, the committee said, noting a need for the design of effective tools and approaches to educate providers and identify women at increased risk, and for efficacious interventions and greater understanding of the disparities and barriers that exist regarding use of chemoprevention strategies.
"Not every woman should use these preventive agents, but we believe women who are at increased risk for breast cancer should be given the option, because in some cases the magnitude of the risk reduction is large. For some women, these therapies can reduce the risk of breast cancer by up to 50%," Dr. Visvanathan said in a press statement.
A data supplement with tables and figures, and clinical tools and resources to help clinicians implement this guideline is available at ASCO’s website.
Dr. Visvanathan reported having no disclosures. Other Update Committee members reported serving as consultants and/or receiving honoraria or research funding from Novartis, Pfizer, Bayer, Champions Biotechnology, and/or AstraZeneca. One author also reported owning Novartis stock.