Study finds many breast-cancer patients stop taking tamoxifen as prescribed.

"Many breast cancer patients are risking their lives by failing to take the tamoxifen they are prescribed," according to a study published in the British Journal of Cancer. Lead author Professor Alastair Thompson, of the University of Dundee, and colleagues, conducted an "analysis of more than 2,000 women's prescription records." The researchers found that "50 percent of women failed to finish the five-year course of the drug needed to maximize their survival chances." The data also revealed that "one in five regularly forgot to take a tablet." In addition, "after one year, 10 percent of women had stopped taking tamoxifen, after two years the figure was 19 percent, and after three and a half years, 32 percent of the women had stopped." Moreover, "younger women were more likely to stop taking the medication early," although "there was no difference in the rich or poorer groups of women."