Anastrozole’s repurposing as a preventive treatment marks a significant advancement in breast cancer care. This post examines Anastrozole’s action, effectiveness, side effects, dosage, UK cost, and eligibility criteria.

Mechanism of Action Anastrozole is an aromatase inhibitor. It works by blocking aromatase, reducing estrogen production. Since some breast cancers are estrogen-dependent, lowering estrogen levels can prevent these cancer cells from growing.

Efficacy Research shows that Anastrozole cuts the risk of developing breast cancer by 50% in high-risk postmenopausal women when taken daily for five years. This significant reduction underscores its role as a primary preventive measure.

Side Effects Side effects are a consideration with Anastrozole use. While it can cause symptoms like joint pain and hot flushes, these are typically manageable. The potential benefit of reducing breast cancer risk is a compelling reason for its use despite these side effects.

Dosage The recommended dose of Anastrozole for breast cancer prevention is one 1 mg tablet daily. It can be taken with or without food, offering flexibility for incorporation into daily life.

Cost in the UK The cost is low due to its off-patent status. A five-year course is about £78, a small price for the potential health benefits and the cost savings to the healthcare system by preventing cancer.

Eligibility The treatment is aimed at postmenopausal women who are at a moderate to high risk of breast cancer, which includes those with a family history of the disease. The goal is to offer protection to those most likely to benefit from the drug.

Conclusion Anastrozole offers a cost-effective, preventive option for breast cancer in a targeted group of women. Its introduction is a proactive step in cancer prevention, promising to reduce the incidence and the associated healthcare costs.

References

• Data on Anastrozole’s efficacy and cost-effectiveness are available from NHS England and Cancer Research UK.
• Information on dosage and side effects can be found in medical guidelines provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

GP Tools is ISO 27001 certified.

What is ISO 27001?

ISO 27001 is the international standard for Information Security. The standard is awarded to organisations that have proved they have an effective information security management system (ISMS) in place to deal with their own and others sensitive information.
An ISMS is a “systematic approach to managing confidential or sensitive corporate information so that it remains secure.” Organisations such as ours, that deal with large volumes of data – need to have to a system in place that guarantees we can ensure your information is kept secure at all times. Having gained the ISO 27001 standard means that our ISMS has been assessed against a rigorous set of requirements, and is fully capable of ensuring the safety of your information.

Why have we been certified?

As technology advances, and more of us do business through the web, the cloud and other digital arenas, information security becomes more and more important. You, the user are the most important thing to us, so we wanted to ensure not only that our ISMS was operating to the highest standards, but that we were accredited to offer you peace of mind that you can trust us to keep your information safe.

What does it mean for you?

Gaining the ISO 27001 is proof that we are serious about information security and devoted to ensuring that any information you trust us with is always kept safe and secure, and will not be accessible by anyone else. We hope this provides you with peace of mind that we are vigilant, tenacious and determined in the protection of your data.

We are proud to announce the release of our new android app, you can download it from the google play store by following this link or by searching for ‘GP Tools’ in the play store.
Please let us know how you get on, and what kind of improvements you would like to see. Your feedback is always valued.

Innovative Patient e – survey now live

You asked for it and we have delivered !
A truly one of a kind and innovative way to conduct your patient surveys. Never before has something like this been tried. We think it is a real game changer. 
We have simplified the process of conducting patient surveys : just follow the instructions under ‘patient e – survey’ in the ‘analysing your practice menu’. 
Just to point out you do NOT have to collect patient email addresses to use this survey. You simply hand them an instruction sheet and the rest is done by the system.

Happy surveying 😉

We are excited to announce that users can now directly upload files and evidence from their Dropbox account to their GPTools appraisal. Your dropbox files will be available to the appraiser and RO as normally uploaded local files would be. This really opens up a whole new world of possibilities…. If you don’t have a Dropbox account yet, what are you waiting for?
www.dropbox.com