The World Health Organization (WHO) defines compliance as "the extent to which a person's behavior - taking medication, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle changes - corresponds with agreed recommendations from a healthcare provider."

Breast cancer survivors are faced with the possibility of the cancer coming back (recurrence), as well as an increased risk of developing a new breast cancer. For this reason, compliance with a physician-prescribed healthcare regimen is critical for best outcomes.

There are now about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States. Clinical data indicate that approximately 80 percent of these survivors may be in the category of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. It is this sub-group, approximately 1.3 million women, that is most affected by compliance to oral therapy.

For the two-thirds of women with early stage breast cancer whose disease is hormone receptor-positive, a five-year course of adjuvant hormonal therapy significantly reduces the rate of recurrence and increases the 10-year survival rate.

Resource:
World Health Organization (WHO)