Adherence rates and correlates in long-term hormonal therapy.

Breast cancer outcomes have improved markedly in the past few decades, due in part to the use of adjuvant hormonal therapy. To receive the optimal benefits of adjuvant therapies such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors (AIs), patients need to take these agents orally each day for 5 years. Current evidence indicates that nonadherence is considerable and increases over time and the side effect profiles for tamoxifen and AIs present considerable barriers to optimal adherence. Interventions, both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic, hold potential to treat adjuvant hormonal treatment side effects and improve adherence. More research and approaches to intervention to enhance the adherence need to be developed and tested.