A DRUG derived from vitamin A may help younger women fight breast cancer and even prevent high-risk groups from developing the disease, according to new research.
Scientists have found that fenretinide can prevent pre-menopausal women with breast cancer from developing the disease in their other breast.
It is believed the derivative could be used to prevent healthy young women at high risk of developing breast cancer from getting the disease.
The research was presented to delegates at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels yesterday.
Women in the early stage of the disease generally have a good chance of survival, but some 1 per cent will develop cancer in their healthy breast and around 3 per cent will have a second growth in the affected breast.
A trial of 3,000 women in Italy with early "stage one" breast cancer, found that fenretinide did not prevent post-menopausal women from developing the disease in their healthy breast or more growths in their affected breast.
But among younger, pre-menopausal patients, only 27 out of 1,500 women treated with the drug developed cancer in their healthy breast, compared with 42 of the 1,500 patients not given the drug.
And 2.8 per cent of treated women developed second cancers in their affected breast, compared with 5.8 per cent of those not on fenretinide.