This year, approximately 180,000 women will be diagnosed, and over 40,000 will die.
Long Island has one of the highest incidences of breast cancer in the United States.
The drugs investigated in the report are the five highest selling brand-name drugs that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for outpatient hormonal treatment of breast cancer. This study does not include oral chemotherapy drugs that are used to treat breast cancer. Moreover, because they are chemotherapy drugs, they fall into the narrow class of drugs that are covered by Medicare. Nolvadex is the most frequently prescribed breast cancer drug, with a typical course of treatment that lasts five years. It is expected that there will be more than 12,100 incidences of breast cancer diagnosis in New York State this year.