FRIDAY, Nov. 11, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- A drug currently undergoing clinical trials for use in treating a postmenopausal condition called vaginal atrophy may also help prevent breast cancer, according to two preliminary studies.
The first study found that the drug, ospemifene, inhibited breast cancer development in mice exposed to a carcinogen. The second study found that ospemifene inhibited the growth and progression of pre-malignant breast lesions in mice.
Ospemifene belongs to a class of drugs called selective estrogen receptor modulators, which includes tamoxifen and raloxifen.
"These reports indicate that prevention of breast cancer may be another benefit of the use of ospemifene. The findings are very encouraging," Michael W. DeGregorio, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Davis, said in a prepared statement.
DeGregorio, a co-author on both papers, spent 20 years developing ospemifene in collaboration with a Finnish researcher. The drug is expected to enter Phase III clinical testing in the United States next year for treatment of vaginal atrophy, a common condition in postmenopausal women.
The two new studies appear in the November issue of the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the December issue of the journal Breast Cancer Research.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer prevention.
