With chemoprevention medications proven to decrease breast cancer risk by 50 to 60 percent, Miami Cancer Institute experts are urging those with certain risk factors to take part in the Making Informed Choices on Incorporating Chemoprevention into Care (MiCHOICE) trial. The study, for women ages 35-74 who do not have a history of breast cancer but have been diagnosed with atypical hyperplasia or lobular carcinoma in situ, hopes to better educate women on chemoprevention.
Ana Cristina Sandoval, M.D., breast medical oncologist with Miami Cancer Institute.
“Even though about 15 percent of U.S. women could benefit from chemoprevention, only about 5 to 15 percent of those offered chemoprevention agree to take medication,” says Ana Cristina Sandoval, M.D., the Miami Cancer Institute breast medical oncologist who is the study’s principal investigator. “If we can increase understanding and awareness so that more people with risk factors take these preventive measures, we can decrease breast cancer incidence.”
At the Institute’s Breast Cancer Prevention Clinic, a multidisciplinary team led by Jane Mendez, M.D., chief of breast surgery, works with those who have a number of breast cancer risks. They include known breast cancer genetic mutations, a strong family history of breast cancer, a breast cancer risk of greater than 20 percent as calculated by the predictive medical models and underlying high-risk conditions.
Clinic patients may receive additional and frequent breast imaging tests and surveillance, genetic education and counseling, individualized breast health plans and lifestyle modification recommendations. For some patients, chemoprevention drugs such as tamoxifen, raloxifene and aromatase inhibitors are also on the table.
To determine if they are eligible for the MiCHOICE trial, patients may call 786-527-8861. The Institute also offers other breast cancer clinical trials, including the GLORIA study, which is testing the use of a vaccine to prevent the recurrence of triple negative breast cancer. For information on the GLORIA study and other clinical trials available at Miami Cancer Institute, please visit https://cancer.baptisthealth.net/miami-cancer-institute/clinical-trials.
