Tamoxifen alone versus adjuvant tamoxifen for operable breast cancer of the elderly: long-term results of the phase III randomized controlled multicenter GRETA trial.

Background: To evaluate the efficacy of tamoxifen as primary treatment in women aged over 70 years with operable breast cancer versus surgery followed by adjuvant tamoxifen.

Patients And Methods: Patients randomly received tamoxifen alone (160 mg day 1, then 20 mg/day) for 5 years or surgery followed by tamoxifen (20 mg/day) for 5 years. Overall survival was the main study end point; secondary objectives included breast cancer survival and local control of the disease.