title: Prospective randomised trial of tamoxifen versus surgery in elderly patients with breast cancer.
abstract: 116 patients aged 70 or over who were judged to have surgically resectable cancer of the breast were prospectively randomised to tamoxifen 20 mg daily or surgical resection. At a median follow-up of three years, local relapse or progression was seen in 15 (25%) of 60 patients in the tamoxifen group and 21 (37.5%) of 56 in the surgical arm. Distant metastases occurred in 8 (13%) in the tamoxifen group and in 10 (18%) in the surgical arm. There were 13 deaths in the tamoxifen group and 11 in the surgical arm, of which 8 and 9, respectively, were attributable to breast cancer. Disease-free survival did not differ between the groups.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D013629:Tamoxifen