USPSTF 2019 recommends offering risk-reducing medication to women at increased risk of breast cancer (B recommendation)

Clinical Question

Should primary care clinicians offer risk-reducing medications, such as tamoxifen, raloxifene, or aromatase inhibitors, to women at increased risk for breast cancer?

Bottom line

In this updated 2019 review, The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that primary care clinicians offer risk reducing medications, such as tamoxifen, raloxifene, or aromatase inhibitors, to women at increased risk for breast cancer and at low risk for adverse medication effects. (B recommendation) This recommendation applies only to asymptomatic women 35 years and older, including women with previous benign breast lesions. The Task Force recommends against routine use of risk-reducing medications in women not at increased risk for breast cancer. (D recommendation) These recommendations are consistent with the 2013 USPSTF recommendation statement. 2c

Study design: Practice guideline

Funding: Government

Setting: Population-based

Reviewer

David C. Slawson, MD
Professor and Vice Chair of Family Medicine for Education and Scholarship
Atrium Health
Professor of Family Medicine, UNC Chapel Hill
Charlotte, NC