Can Celebrex Prevent Breast Cancer?
December 13, 2004
SAN ANTONIO (Ivanhoe Newswire) —A new study shows six months of treatment with the arthritis drug Celebrex (celecoxib) may help reduce a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer.
Researchers from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston say Celebrex may regulate a cell’s use of estrogen, which could explain the drug’s anticancer properties.
So far, the study has enrolled 40 women at high risk of developing breast cancer. Each woman agreed to undergo a fine needle aspiration and ductal lavage to remove breast cells both before and after six months of treatment with Celebrex. These samples were available for analysis in 26 of the high-risk women.
Researchers found, prior to taking Celebrex, the women had an estrogen receptor expression of about 30 percent. After six months of treatment with Celebrex, these women had an estrogen receptor expression of a little more than 20 percent. Researchers say this was a statistically significant difference.
Banu Arun, M.D., from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, explains, “Since estrogen receptor expression is a marker of proliferation, this finding confirms celecoxib’s (Celebrex’s) antiproliferative properties.” She concludes, “This is a preliminary, but exciting, finding that has not been reported in clinical chemoprevention studies before.”
SOURCE: Julie Monheim at the 27th annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Dec. 8-11, 200