Old Cancer Drug Gets Panel’s OK

An expert panel recommended Sunday that doctors stick with tamoxifen as the time-tested treatment for early-stage breast cancer, despite evidence that newer drugs may do a better job of preventing recurrence.

The decision affects the care of about 700,000 women in the U.S. who take tamoxifen to prevent their breast cancer from coming back.

Cancer physicians fielded many calls from patients in December after reports that a newer class of drugs, called aromatase inhibitors, appear slightly more effective. Some quickly switched their patients, while many others wondered whether they should.

To help them decide, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the world’s largest organization of cancer doctors, convened an expert panel to review the issue.

Its decision: It’s too soon to change. In the end, the new drugs may prove superior, but it will take a few more years of study before doctors can be certain of their advantages as well as their possible risks.

“Clearly, if the difference was very, very dramatic, that would color one’s thinking, but the difference was small,” said Dr. Eric Winer, a physician at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who chaired the 18-member panel.