B Fisher, J Dignam, J Bryant, A DeCillis, D L Wickerham, N Wolmark, J Costantino, C Redmond, E R Fisher, D M Bowman, L DeschĂȘnes, N V Dimitrov, R G Margolese, A Robidoux, H Shibata, J Terz, A H Paterson, M I Feldman, W Farrar, J Evans, H L Lickley
BACKGROUND: In 1982, the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project initiated a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial (B-14) to determine the effectiveness of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy in patients with primary operable breast cancer who had estrogen receptor-positive tumors and no axillary lymph node involvement. The findings indicated that tamoxifen therapy provided substantial benefit to patients with early stage disease. However, questions arose about how long the observed benefit would persist, about the duration of therapy necessary to maintain maximum benefit, and about the nature and severity of adverse effects from prolonged treatment...
November 6, 1996: Journal of the National Cancer Institute