Can a new drug that helps hot flashes herald a way to prevent many breast cancers? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Some drugs used to treat breast cancer might also be used to prevent it, but the hot flashes and other troublesome side effects make that an unlikely choice for many women. Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson says if a new drug to prevent hot flashes and other so-called vasomotor symptoms called elinzanetant pans out, that might change.

Nelson: It’s pretty clear that you can take some of these drugs if you're at increased risk for breast cancer at a younger age and prevent breast cancer. That's a tough sell for these women because of these early menopause vasomotor kind of symptoms. So could you put that back into play? This trial was not done to see whether breast cancer outcomes improved, they didn't measure hormone levels, so I think there will be more studies that will be needed before it acquires a real use in breast cancer prevention or standard use and breast cancer care but this is definitely a promising step.    :31 

Elinzanetant has just been approved in the UK. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.