Purpose: To assess physician recommendations about the use of tamoxifen in premenopausal BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers.
Methods: We mailed surveys to a stratified random sample of 1,286 physicians selected from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium mailing list. Eligible participants were physicians whose practice consisted of >/= 10% breast cancer patients. Participants were asked to complete a three-part, 10-minute questionnaire. Demographics and responses to hypothetical patient vignettes were analyzed.
Results: Of potentially eligible participants, 27% responded to the survey, and 260 participants were included in the final analysis. Physicians did not distinguish between BRCA1 and BRCA2 status in making recommendations about tamoxifen to breast cancer patients; however, in an unaffected woman, they were more likely to recommend tamoxifen to a BRCA2 mutation carrier than to a BRCA1 mutation carrier (73% v 57%; P <.0001). In newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, physicians were much more likely to recommend tamoxifen to an estrogen receptor (ER)-positive mutation carrier versus an ER-negative carrier (94% v 27%; P <.0001). When the mutation carrier was diagnosed 10 years ago, physicians were still much more likely to recommend tamoxifen if the tumor was ER-positive versus ER-negative (79% v 35%; P <.0001).
Conclusion: Physicians' recommendations about tamoxifen use in mutation carriers with a history of breast cancer seem to be heavily dependent on ER status. This finding suggests that among mutation carriers, physicians are influenced by adjuvant treatment guidelines more so than the potential role that tamoxifen might play in the reduction of risk for contralateral breast cancer.