New research indicates that use of the breast cancer medication tamoxifen, sold under the brand name Nolvadex, may prevent the disease in healthy women. Published in the medical journal The Lancet, the inquiry, conducted by scientists with Cancer Research UK, analyzed data from previous studies using tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention. Researchers found that the drug reduced the incidence of the disorder by 38 percent.

The study, which involved over 40,000 women, also found that tamoxifen reduced the rate of breast cancer in the opposite breast of a woman who had been treated for the cancer in one breast by 46 percent. Researchers, however, warned that more studies are necessary, as the drug has been linked to endometrial cancer, uterine sarcoma, stroke and pulmonary embolism.