Using preventive medicines to lower breast cancer risk in people treated for cancer as childhood or adolescence
Can risk-reducing medications improve breast cancer prevention in childhood and adolescent cancer survivors? Comparative modeling to inform care
This project uses computer models and long-term patient records to learn if preventive breast cancer medicines can lower risk for people who had cancer as children or teens and received chest radiation or high‑dose chemotherapy.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston Children's Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11161391 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From a patient perspective, researchers combine simulation modeling with decades of survivorship data because running a long prevention trial in this rare group is difficult. They will model the effects of risk‑reducing drugs such as selective estrogen receptor modulators and aromatase inhibitors in survivors exposed to chest radiation or high anthracycline doses. The team will estimate how many breast cancers could be prevented, weigh potential harms and costs, and identify which survivor subgroups would benefit most. Results are intended to help doctors and survivors decide whether preventive medicines should be recommended or offered.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are female childhood or adolescent cancer survivors who received chest radiation or high doses of anthracycline chemotherapy and are now approaching or past young adult screening ages.
Not a fit: People without prior chest radiation or high‑dose anthracycline exposure, those with low baseline breast cancer risk, or most male survivors are unlikely to be helped directly by these findings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help identify survivors who might safely use preventive medicines to substantially lower their future breast cancer risk or inform changes to prevention guidelines.
How similar studies have performed: Preventive drugs like tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors have cut estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer risk by about half in other high‑risk women, but applying that approach to childhood/adolescent cancer survivors is a newer, less directly tested idea.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Boston Children's Hospital — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Yeh, Jennifer M. — Boston Children's Hospital
- Study coordinator: Yeh, Jennifer M.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.