Excerpt from Medscape Breast Cancer Chemoprevention - An Update K. Mokbel, G. Singh-Ranger Curr Med Res Opin 18(6):329-331, 2002. © 2002 Librapharm Limited Posted 11/22/2002 Another example of the need to individualise chemoprevention strategies comes from the retinoids trial.[10] In this randomised trial of fenretinide (a retinoic acid derivative) to prevent a second breast malignancy in women with early breast cancer, the investigators observed no significant effect after 5 years of treatment. A possible significant effect was noted, however, in premenopausal women. It is likely that retinoids exert their anti-cancer effect by modifying the IGF-1/IGFBP-3 system.[11] The IGFBP-3 response to retinoids may be genetically determined.[12] Individuals with a certain genotype, for example, produce high levels of IGFBP-3 in response to retinoids, and it is likely therefore, that these women will derive significant chemopreventitive benefit from retinoids. Lack of individualisation could explain the overall negative result of the trial. Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.