Authors' reply

摘要

Key findings from trials of 5 years or 10 years of tamoxifen are summarised in the table. They are remarkable.The trials comparing 5 years of tamoxifen versus none included some 20000 women,1 half with oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive disease and most others with untested ER status. In ER-positive disease, 5 years of tamoxifen (with about 80% compliance) reduces the breast cancer mortality rate by about 30% (rate ratio [RR] 0.70, 95% Cl 0.64-0.75, X~2 [on 1df] 81.3) throughout the first 15 years (p<0.0001 during each of the periods 0-4 years, 5-9 years, and 10-14 years after diagnosis).