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.

2.3 million women in the United States are living with a breast cancer diagnosis. 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)