The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence¹ says tamoxifen（三苯氧胺） or raloxifene（雷洛普芬） taken daily for five years can cut breast cancer risk by 40%. 

 

Its guidance for England and Wales means 500,000 women now have a choice other than mastectomy.

 

The Scottish government says it will offer tamoxifen to women at risk.

 

One in every five breast cancers has a family link. 

 

Having close relatives - a mother, sister or aunt - with breast cancer increases a woman's chance of getting the disease, as does inheriting certain genes³ such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. 

 

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie revealed last month that she had undergone a preventative double mastectomy to cut her own chance of developing breast cancer because she carries one of these risky⁴ genes. 

 

 

The new guidelines from NICE - which says the decision about the best treatment should be a joint⁵ one between the patient and the medical team - are the first in Europe to recommend that healthy women are given drugs to prevent breast cancer. It is likely that Northern Ireland will soon follow suit.

 

The Scottish government says women with two or more family members who have had breast cancer will be offered the treatment for five years.

 

It was announced last month that genetic⁶ testing would also be offered in Scotland to those with a 10% risk of a faulty gene².

 

NICE says women in England and Wales who are aged⁷ over 35 and at "moderate" or "high" risk of breast cancer as a result of their family history or genes should be considered for preventative drug therapy. 

 

By this they mean women with at least a one in six chance of developing the disease. 

 

The Welsh government said it welcomed the changes and expected health boards to make the drugs "available to patients who meet the clinical criteria⁸".

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