New computer program assesses a woman's risk for developing breast cancer.

Since last April, when researchers announced evidence that tamoxifen reduces the incidence of breast cancer in high-risk women, doctors have been looking for a systematic way to identify women who qualify as "high risk." To address this need, the National Cancer Institute developed the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool, an interactive computer program released this month as a pilot project. The program is adapted from the risk assessment model used to screen participants for the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial conducted by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project and funded by NCI. The 6-year trial showed an approximately 45% reduction in the incidence of breast cancer for high-risk U.S. women who took tamoxifen (Nolvadex®). The full study is published in this issue of the Journal (see page 1371). "Before you can know if a woman might benefit from tamoxifen you first have to identify her risk," said Barnett Kramer, M.D., deputy director of the NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention, who helped develop the program. "There are thousands of potential combinations of factors involved in estimating the risk of developing breast cancer. This program is the most accurate tool available to assess risk." While calculating risk may be complex, the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool fits on a floppy disk and takes only a couple of minutes to use. Users must