Few women at high risk take breast cancer drug

Only one in seven women who are at high risk of breast cancer are taking a preventative drug, a new study has suggested.

Researchers found that six in seven women with a family history of breast cancer opt out of taking tamoxifen as a preventative medication.

In 2013, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommended that certain women at high risk of breast cancer should be given a course of the drug to help cut their chances of developing breast cancer.

After a trial that showed strong results, it was estimated that almost half a million women would be eligible for treatment.

But yhe latest study, published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, found that just 14.7 per cent of eligible women took the drug.