The IBIS-II Prevention study was done to establish if Anastrozole - an oestrogen lowering drug –– could prevent breast cancer in postmenopausal women with a high or moderate risk of getting this disease. NHS Grampian was one of the 149 centres worldwide taking part in this study and 30 local women participated.
The first results published in 2013 showed that women treated with Anastrozole were much less likely to develop breast cancer than those on a dummy drug (placebo). This preventive effect was still present 7 years after the participants stopped taking Anastrozole. You can read more about this in A trial looking at anastrozole to prevent breast cancer in postmenopausal women (IBIS II Prevention) | Cancer Research UK.
Anastrozole has now been authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as a preventative treatment for post-menopausal women at moderate or high risk of breast cancer. The story was covered by the BBC Anastrozole: Thousands to be offered drug to prevent breast cancer in England - BBC News and the Guardian Drug that can halve breast cancer risk offered to 289,000 women in England | Breast cancer | The Guardian
We are grateful to all volunteers from Grampian who joined the IBIS-II study and contributed to this very important result.