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STAR Introduction
STAR Background
STAR-At-A Glance
STAR Enrollment Statistics
STAR Images
STAR Participant Advisory Board
(PAB)
STAR Publications
STAR Result Images
STAR Q and A
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 The Study of
Tamoxifen and Raloxifene, or STAR, is a clinical trial designed see how the drug
raloxifene compares with the drug tamoxifen in reducing the incidence of breast
cancer in postmenopausal women who are at increased risk of the disease. (See
a summary of the protocol.) One of the largest breast cancer prevention
studies ever, STAR took place at more than
500 centers across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Initial results of STAR show that the drug raloxifene is as effective as tamoxifen
in reducing the breast cancer risk of the women on the trial. In STAR, both drugs
reduced the risk of developing invasive breast cancer by about 50 percent. In addition,
within the study, women who were assigned to take raloxifene daily and who were
followed for an average of about four years, had 36 percent fewer uterine cancers
and 29 percent fewer blood clots than the women who were assigned to take tamoxifen.
Uterine cancers, especially endometrial cancers, are a rare but serious side effect
of tamoxifen. Both tamoxifen and raloxifene are known to increase a woman's risk
of blood clots.
Researchers with the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP),
an NCI-funded Cooperative Group, conducted the trial. STAR was funded primarily
by NCI.
The links on the left of this page will take you to more detailed information about
the trial and its results so far, including a variety of press materials (see STAR
Background).
Breast cancer is a critical public health problem: more than 212,000 women will
be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States this year and more than 30,000
will die of the disease.
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