Breast cancer in elderly women: A Cancer Research Campaign trial comparing treatment with tamoxifen and optimal surgery with tamoxifen alone

Abstract

Three hundred and eighty‐one women with operable breast cancer aged over 70 years were randomly allocated to 40 mg tamoxifen daily and optimal surgery or to tamoxifen alone. At a median follow‐up of 34 months there was no demonstrable difference in survival rate or in quality of life between the two treatment groups. More patients treated with tamoxifen alone had a subsequent change of management and this was usually an operation for local treatment failure. This progression to surgery has not been shown to be disadvantageous and the study will continue. Informed consent for randomization was difficult to obtain, leading to the exclusion of eligible patients, and it is therefore proposed to include non‐randomized patients in a total cohort study.