On Sept. 14, 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it had approved Eli Lilly’s osteoporosis drug, Evista, to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer in two populations of postmenopausal women: women with osteoporosis and women at high risk for invasive breast cancer.

EVISTA, a selective estrogen receptor modulator or SERM (recently classified by the FDA as an estrogen agonist/antagonist), is already approved for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. In July, the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) to the FDA voted to recommend approval for the new uses.

While the exact causes of breast cancer are unknown, certain risk factors are linked to the disease, including age, family history, personal history of breast cancer, genetics and lifestyle factors(1). The increased incidence of breast cancer as women age is notable, as nearly eight out of 10 breast cancers are found in women age 50 and older(2). The American Cancer Society estimates that approximately 180,000 women are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer each year(3).