Menopause drug might prevent breast cancer and treat hot flashes, research finds

A drug intended to treat menopause symptoms could double as breast cancer prevention.New research from Northwestern University in Illinois found that Duavee, a Pfizer-made drug, “significantly reduced” breast tissue cell growth, which is a major indicator of cancer progression.A phase 2 clinical trial included 141 post-menopausal women who had been diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), also known as stage 0 breast cancer, according to a press release from Northwestern.This non-invasive breast cancer affects more than 60,000 American women each year, often leading to an outcome of invasive breast cancer.The women were separated into two groups — one received Duavee and the other took a placebo for a month before undergoing breast surgery.Duavee is a conjugated estrogen/bazedoxifene (CE/BZA) drug, which combines estrogen with another medication that minimizes the potential harmful side effects of the hormone.“The key takeaway from the study is that CE/BZA slows the growth (proliferation) of cells in milk ducts of DCIS that expressed the estrogen receptor significantly more than placebo,” Dr.Swati Kulkarni, lead investigator and professor of breast surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital.Another major finding is that the quality of life did not differ significantly between the two groups, but patients who took the CE/BZA reported fewer hot flashes during the study, she noted.“This would be expected, as the drug is FDA-approved to treat hot flashes.”Kulkarni presented the study last week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago. The findings are preliminary and have not yet been published in a medical journal.“What excites me most is that a medication designed to help women feel better during menopause may also reduce their risk of invasive breast cancer,” said the doctor, who is also a Northwestern Medicine breast surgeon.Women who face a higher risk of ...