It's interesting when a drug is re-purposed into something aimed at fighting cancer, but that is what has happened to Evista, a prescription drug made by Eli Lilly which was originally for osteoporosis patients.The FDA has officially approved Evista for use in breast cancer patients as of late this week, although the drug will now come with a box warning advising patients of a heightened risk for stroke by taking the drug.
I'm not sure -- are some drugs worth the possible benefits when certain side effects can be just as bad as what is trying to be treated?
Eli Lilly's Evista breast cancer drug has seen sharp criticism from womens' groups and more -- and has seen opposition from the FDA as well. The drug, nevertheless, may be approved by an FDA panel soon. What would most likely follow would be official FDA approval, which means the drug would then be free to be marketed and prescribed.
For over twenty years, the gold standard in long-term chemoprevention for women with estrogen-positive breast cancer was Tamoxifen. It seemed to work well in preventing recurrence of breast cancer for a certain percentage of women taking it for five years. Tamoxifen had its drawbacks though, as it was known to increase the risk for uterine cancer, blood clots and strokes. But there was nothing else that worked as well at preventing breast cancer from coming back, so women took it and hoped for the best. 
