The cheap tablet that every woman with a family history of breast cancer MUST be taking. I’m a doctor and the medical establishment doesn’t want me to tell you this – but this drug will save thousands

Women aged 18 and older should be offered a cheap daily tablet to halve their risk of breast cancer, a leading expert says. This creates controversy among doctors.

Breast cancer surgeon at the prestigious Royal Marsden Hospital, Dr. Rebekah Law believes tamoxifen, a 45p pill, should be offered “in the same way as statins”, the safe and highly effective daily tablets taken by millions of people to reduce the risk of fatal heart disease.

Currently tamoxifen is used on the NHS mainly to treat women who already have breast cancer or to prevent a recurrence of the disease.

In some cases, it is also recommended for women with a family history of the disease or cancer-causing genetic mutations to prevent the disease from occurring.

However, speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Barcelona, ​​Dr. Law argued that women at high risk of the disease (for example, those with a close family history of breast cancer in a mother or sister) should be offered the chance to take tamoxifen.

Dr. Law suggests that any woman concerned about developing breast cancer should be allowed to request a prescription for tamoxifen, regardless of family history or genetics.

Unlike statins, which must be taken for life, Dr Law argues that patients only need to take tamoxifen for five years to reduce their risk of breast cancer for the next 20 years.

A major intervention is needed to combat the rising number of young women getting breast cancer, she says. More than 10,000 people under the age of 50 are currently diagnosed with the disease in the UK each year; This number is 10 percent more than in 2010.

Dr Law also argues that it is better to prevent breast cancer from occurring than to treat it. Research shows that women who contract the disease are significantly more likely to have it reoccur later in life. They are also more likely to suffer financially as a result of their disease and develop long-term complications such as chronic pain.

But many other experts oppose the move, arguing that tamoxifen can have serious side effects, such as debilitating symptoms often likened to early menopause, as well as significantly increasing the risk of birth defects.

However, despite these criticisms, Dr. Law is adamant that women should be given the chance to take tamoxifen.

‘Tamoxifen should be offered in the same way as statins to all women at risk of breast cancer,’ he says.

‘If you give women at high risk of developing breast cancer a drug such as tamoxifen, you can significantly reduce their risk of developing the disease by up to 50 percent. That’s why I believe we should at least encourage women to try it.’

So what is tamoxifen? So is this right for you?

It has long been recommended that women at moderate to high risk of breast cancer be offered preventive treatments such as tamoxifen.

Head of the oncogenetics department at Montpellier University Hospital, Dr. “We see more affected women than healthy women, so we need to think of a new system to increase the uptake of prevention,” says Pascal Pujol.

The need for better ways to prevent breast cancer is clear. The disease affects approximately 58,000 women each year. While revolutionary new drug treatments have increased the number of patients surviving breast cancer in recent years, it still causes more than 11,000 deaths each year in the UK.

Tamoxifen is what is known as an estrogen receptor modulator. This means that it blocks the female sex hormone estrogen from entering the breast tissue. This is very important because many types of breast cancer feed on estrogen.

Research shows that through this mechanism, drugs such as tamoxifen can stop the spread of breast cancer and cure patients along with other treatments such as chemotherapy and surgery.

Most importantly, research also shows that tamoxifen can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer by up to 50 percent.

However, only a small number of women (those considered to be at high risk of developing breast cancer) are offered tamoxifen for this purpose on the NHS.

This is because tamoxifen has a number of side effects, including hot flashes and night sweats, mood swings and fatigue. It can also cause menstrual irregularities or stop them completely.

For this reason, experts compare the side effects of tamoxifen to early menopause; However, many women find that their periods return when they stop taking the tablets.

Experts warn that tamoxifen also increases the risk of life-threatening complications. Studies show tamoxifen patients are almost three times more likely to develop fatal blood clots and endometrial cancer.

Tamoxifen patients are also warned not to become pregnant while taking the drug because it significantly increases the risk of birth defects, including physical deformities and genetic diseases.

However, Dr Law argues that these tamoxifen complications only occur when the tablet is taken in high doses.

Instead, it calls for patients to be given a smaller daily dose (a quarter of the current amount) to avoid these side effects.

He suggests that with this lower dose of tamoxifen, patients often experience only one hot flash per day, while also seeing a greatly reduced risk of cancer.

Dr Law acknowledges that there is currently no data on how effective tamoxifen is at preventing cancer in younger people, as tamoxifen studies have historically only included patients over 30. However, he believes it will have the same protective effect in 18-year-old women.

But other experts say even the smaller dose could put women at risk of unnecessary side effects and complications.

Dr., a cancer specialist at Montpellier University Hospital in France. “We do not want to affect the quality of life and sexual health of a healthy woman just because there is a risk of contracting the disease at a later age,” says Pascal Pujol.

Experts also state that today, a diagnosis of breast cancer is not a death sentence. In fact, studies show that nine out of ten women are alive five years after diagnosis. Eight out of ten people are alive ten years later.

Others argue that lifestyle changes such as losing excess weight, exercising regularly, and limiting smoking are effective in reducing the risk of breast cancer without any of the potential complications of medications such as tamoxifen.

However, Dr. Law suggests that there are many other reasons why women want to avoid getting cancer; This includes the fact that those who develop cancer are more likely to see the disease return later in life, and it is often harder to treat at that point.

Complications are also common during breast cancer treatment. Studies show that half of women who have breast surgery will experience persistent pain after the procedure.

Meanwhile, a major study soon to be published has found that a breast cancer diagnosis could cost women up to £12,000 a year, largely due to lost wages, childcare and travel costs.

Dr Law also says many women who could benefit from tamoxifen (those thought to be at high risk) are unaware of the tablet.

Studies have shown that only 2 percent of women who have regular breast cancer screenings (that is, screened for the disease every few years) have heard of tamoxifen.

‘We shouldn’t be force-feeding women preventative drugs, but we need to raise awareness and normalize the use of endocrine drugs such as tamoxifen,’ she says.

‘We’ve all heard of statins. Our grandparents get them, our parents get them, so there’s a collective understanding that this is normal; That’s why we’re more likely to say yes when we get an offer.

‘There are great similarities between the two drugs’ [statins and tamoxifen] But because we haven’t normalized it in society, women aren’t aware of its potentially life-saving effects.’

READ MORE: Walking for just 30 minutes may help prevent breast cancer