MONDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Among women at high risk of breast cancer, a state-of-the-art decision aid increases knowledge about tamoxifen prophylaxis but does not increase willingness to initiate therapy, according to a study published online Nov. 12 in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.
Angela Fagerlin, Ph.D., of the Center for Clinical Management Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., and colleagues studied 632 women with a five-year risk of breast cancer of at least 1.66 percent who viewed an online decision aid that explained their cancer risk, and offered individually tailored content on the risks and benefits of tamoxifen prophylaxis.
The researchers found that nearly two-thirds of the women could correctly answer at least five of six knowledge questions after viewing the decision aid, and that 29 percent said they intended to seek more information about tamoxifen or talk to their doctor about it. However, they also found that only 6 percent of the women said they would take tamoxifen.
"This reluctance may be due to an informed decision that has carefully weighed the risks and benefits of tamoxifen," the authors conclude. "Whether these same attitudes will influence women's acceptance of similar chemoprevention strategies (e.g., raloxifene) remains to be seen."
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