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Drugs Can Cut Breast Cancer Risk for Some, Task Force Finds
Posted 15 Apr 2013 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, April 15 – The drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene (Evista) could reduce the risk of breast cancer among women who are at high risk of developing the disease, a new report confirms. Along with the report, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force also issued draft recommendations that reflect those findings, which will be published in the April 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. The task force recommendations state that doctors should talk about the potential benefits and harms of taking drugs to prevent breast cancer, a strategy known as chemoprevention, with patients who are at high risk of developing breast cancer. That guideline is consistent with that of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Cancer Society, and reflects current clinical practice, the task force said. "We had a nice set of well-done, large [studies], so we have a lot of ... Read more
Related support groups: Tamoxifen, Evista, Breast Cancer, Prevention, Raloxifene, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamone, Emblon, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen, Tamosin, Soltamox
Cancer Chemotherapy Tied to Slight Rise in Risk for Leukemia
Posted 14 Feb 2013 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Feb. 14 – Chemotherapy can be a lifesaver for thousands of cancer patients, but a new study suggests that it might slightly raise the odds for a type of leukemia later in life. Over the past 30 years, the risk for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has increased for patients who underwent chemotherapy for certain forms of cancer, particularly non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the new study found. On the other hand, the researchers from the U.S. National Cancer Institute said other cancer survivors may have a reduced risk for AML due to a change in chemotherapy agents that occurred decades ago. One expert not connected to the study stressed that cancer patients need to put the findings into perspective. "It's important to realize that the risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia related to prior chemotherapy is small and increases with the number of chemotherapy treatments given over time," ... Read more
Related support groups: Cancer, Provera, Methotrexate, Lupron, Depo-Provera, Accutane, Tamoxifen, Arimidex, Lupron Depot, Medroxyprogesterone, Femara, Claravis, Gleevec, Fluorouracil, Zoladex
Genes Linked to Effectiveness of Tamoxifen for Breast Cancer
Posted 28 Dec 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Dec. 28 For breast cancer patients prescribed tamoxifen to treat their disease, genetic traits affecting an enzyme in the liver are major players in determining the impact of the hormone therapy, new research suggests. There's been debate in the scientific world for years over the role of genetic differences in the enzyme, known as CYP2D6. An estimated 5 percent to 7 percent of European and North American women have a trait that prevents the enzyme from working properly. "Our findings confirm that, in early breast cancer treated with tamoxifen, genetic alterations in CYP2D6 lead to a higher likelihood of recurrence and death," Dr. Matthew Goetz, a Mayo Clinic oncologist and lead author of the study that reported the findings, said in a Mayo Clinic news release. The researchers tracked two groups of women: postmenopausal women with primary estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer ... Read more
Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Tamoxifen, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen
10 Years of Tamoxifen Better Than 5: Study
Posted 5 Dec 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 5 --Taking the breast cancer drug tamoxifen for a decade, instead of the standard five years, further reduces the long-term chances of recurrence and risk of dying from the disease, new British research suggests. The increase in benefit is especially noticeable after the 10th year, said study author Richard Peto, a professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at the University of Oxford. Tamoxifen is widely used for treating estrogen receptor or ER-positive breast cancer in women who are pre-menopausal. ER-positive cancers need estrogen to grow, and the drug blocks the activity of estrogen in the breast. Currently, tamoxifen is usually given daily for five years after a cancer is treated. Doctors have known that five years is more effective than two, and that it reduces the rate of death from breast cancer by about a third in comparison to not taking it, and that it ... Read more
Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Tamoxifen, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen
Breast Cancer Drug Might Help Men on Prostate Cancer Therapy
Posted 28 Aug 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Aug. 28 – The breast cancer drug tamoxifen may reduce some of the side effects caused by hormone therapy for prostate cancer, according to a new study. Androgen-suppression therapy is often used to slow the progression of advanced prostate cancer. But these drugs, which block testosterone activity, can cause side effects such as breast enlargement and pain that may stop men from using this treatment. German researchers examined the results of four independent clinical trials that examined the use of tamoxifen to manage these side effects in prostate cancer patients undergoing androgen-suppression therapy. The study found that tamoxifen reduced the risk of breast enlargement and breast pain in men at three, six, nine and 12 months of treatment compared to men who did not take tamoxifen. Overall, tamoxifen was more successful in reducing breast symptoms than radiation therapy or ... Read more
Related support groups: Prostate Cancer, Tamoxifen, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen
Risk of Death From Certain Breast Cancers May Rise With Age
Posted 7 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 7 – The risk of dying from a hormone receptor-positive breast cancer increases with age, according to new research. And one reason might be that older women with breast cancer are undertreated compared to their younger peers. For women between the ages of 65 and 74, the risk of dying from breast cancer was 25 percent higher than for women under 65. For those 75 and older, the risk of death was 63 percent higher than for women under 65, according to the new study. "This study showed that among postmenopausal, non-metastatic, breast cancer patients, elderly patients have a higher risk of dying from breast cancer than younger patients," said study author Dr. Cornelis van de Velde, a professor of surgery at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and president of the European Cancer Organization. Results of the study are published in the Feb. 8 issue of the ... Read more
Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Tamoxifen, Aromasin, Exemestane, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox
Side Effects May Spur Men to Drop Tamoxifen for Breast Cancer
Posted 16 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 16 – One in five male breast cancer patients stops taking the drug tamoxifen early due to side effects caused by the medicine and may be at increased risk for cancer recurrence, new research suggests. Tamoxifen is the standard of care for the hormone treatment of male breast cancer patients, according to the authors of a new report published in the Nov. 16 issue of the Annals of Oncology. In the study, researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston examined the records of 64 male breast cancer patients who received tamoxifen for an average of four years and found that 34 of them (53 percent) experienced one or more tamoxifen-related side effects, such as weight gain and loss of sex drive. Thirteen (20.3 percent) of the patients stopped taking tamoxifen due to the side effects. Nine of the patients died after they discontinued tamoxifen ... Read more
Related support groups: Tamoxifen, Nolvadex, Breast Cancer -- Male, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen
Femara May Beat Tamoxifen at Preventing Breast Cancer's Return
Posted 24 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Oct. 21 – The breast cancer drug letrozole, marketed as Femara, may be more effective than tamoxifen at preventing the return of breast cancer and improving survival among older women with hormone-sensitive breast cancers, a new study reports. In the study, published online Oct. 21 in The Lancet Oncology, the researchers updated data from an ongoing study of about 8,000 women, which compares the two drugs alone as well as the use of both Femara and tamoxifen sequentially. Femara outperformed tamoxifen in terms of breast cancer recurrence and survival, the study found. Moreover, giving Femara alone to women was more effective than giving it sequentially following tamoxifen. The new study was partially funded by Novartis, the drug company that makes Femara. The hormone estrogen feeds hormone-sensitive cancers, and blocking it may help stave off a recurrence. Femara is part of a ... Read more
Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Tamoxifen, Arimidex, Femara, Anastrozole, Aromasin, Letrozole, Exemestane, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Soltamox, Tamone, Emblon, Tamoxen, Genox
Cancer Patients Should Ask Doctors to Use Simple Terms
Posted 28 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 28 – Cancer patients are often faced with many difficult-to-understand treatment choices that can have serious side effects and even mean the difference between life and death. That's why it's crucial that patients insist doctors use plain language in explaining the options, advised Angela Fagerlin, an associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and a researcher at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center. "People are making life and death decisions that may affect their survival and they need to know what they're getting themselves into. Cancer treatments and tests can be serious. Patients need to know what kind of side effects they might experience as a result of the treatment they undergo," Fagerlin said in a university news release. She and her colleagues outlined a number of tips to help patients get the information they need ... Read more
Related support groups: Cancer, Provera, Methotrexate, Breast Cancer, Lupron, Depo-Provera, Accutane, Prostate Cancer, Tamoxifen, Arimidex, Lupron Depot, Medroxyprogesterone, Femara, Claravis, Gleevec
Women Who Drink, Smoke Are Less Likely to Stick With Tamoxifen
Posted 23 Aug 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Aug. 23 – Women at high risk for breast cancer who smoke and drink are less likely to stick with a drug regimen meant to prevent cancer, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed adherence to the drug tamoxifen by 11,000 women with a high risk of breast cancer who took part in the U.S. National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project's Breast Cancer Prevention Trial. Heavy drinkers (more than one drink a day) were less likely to stick with the drug regimen after one month. Smokers were less likely to adhere to the medication over the long term. Yet physical activity levels and obesity were not associated with adherence, suggesting that "poor adherence is not simply based on a pattern of unhealthy behavior in general, but could be related to common sociological, psychological, biological or genetic mechanisms that impact both substance use and medication adherence," the ... Read more
Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Tamoxifen, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen
Tamoxifen Wards Off Breast Cancer's Return for More Than a Decade
Posted 28 Jul 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, July 28 – Women who took the cancer-suppressing drug tamoxifen for five years after a breast cancer diagnosis were nearly 40 percent less likely to have the cancer return, and that protection lasted for more than a decade after they stopped taking the drug, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed the results of about 20 randomized controlled trials on a five-year course of tamoxifen vs. not taking the drug. The trials involved 21,000 women from a dozen countries around the world, including the United States, Europe, China and Japan. Some 15 years after their diagnosis – and 10 years after they stopped taking the drug – women who took tamoxifen still had one-third lower risk of dying than women who didn't take it. "It's a remarkable drug," said study author Dr. Christina Davies, a lead investigator with the Early Breast Cancer Trialists Collaborative Group, which was ... Read more
Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Tamoxifen, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen
Tamoxifen May Offer Long-Term Heart, Cancer Protection
Posted 22 Mar 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, March 22 – Taking the breast cancer drug tamoxifen for the recommended five years protects women from breast cancer recurrence better than a two-year course of the drug and it also shields some women from cardiovascular disease, new research finds. The cancer protection and heart-disease risk reduction were noted 15 years after starting treatment, according to the study published online March 21 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The findings may surprise many women on the medication, said Allan Hackshaw, deputy director of Cancer Research and the University College London Cancer Trials Center. "I think many women don't realize the benefits [reduced cancer recurrence] last a long time if they can complete the five-year course, and particularly also the CV [cardiovascular] disease benefit," he said. Hackshaw and his colleagues studied follow-up data for 3,449 participants in ... Read more
Related support groups: Tamoxifen, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen
Breast Cancer Drug Tamoxifen Saves Lives, Medical Costs: Study
Posted 14 Mar 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, March 14 – For certain women at increased risk of breast cancer, tamoxifen can protect against the disease for a decade after treatment ends, save lives and reduce medical costs, new research suggests. For years, women considered at increased risk of breast cancer have taken tamoxifen as a preventive measure. But previous cost-effectiveness research has only accounted for breast cancer risk reduction while it is being taken, not after treatment ends. This new study shows that protection persists for 10 years after treatment concludes. "Whether a woman who meets these criteria should take tamoxifen is a personal decision that should be made with her doctor," said researcher Joyce Noah-Vanhoucke, a scientist at Archimedes Inc., an independent health-care modeling organization in San Francisco. For the study, published online March 14 in the journal Cancer, Noah-Vanhoucke and her ... Read more
Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Tamoxifen, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen
Breast Cancer Drug May Also Help Lung Cancer Patients
Posted 24 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Jan. 24 – The anti-estrogen drug that transformed the treatment of breast cancer three decades ago may also reduce the risk of dying from lung cancer, researchers say. In a study published in the Jan. 24 online edition of the journal Cancer, tamoxifen lowered the risk of dying from lung cancer among women who already had breast cancer. However, the results are too preliminary to warrant giving tamoxifen to lung cancer patients. "There aren't a whole lot of clinical implications, but it does provide more evidence to our accumulating knowledge that female sex hormones are involved in some way, shape or form in lung cancer progression," said Dr. Apar Kishor Ganti, assistant professor of oncology-hematology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. "Whether or not it's a cause is a little sketchy." Ganti was not involved with the study. Prior studies had indicated that ... Read more
Related support groups: Tamoxifen, Lung Cancer, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen
Cough Syrup Might Help With Dosing of Breast Cancer Drug
Posted 21 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Nov. 19 – A new, small study suggests that the main ingredient in cough syrup might help doctors determine the best dose of tamoxifen, a drug commonly used to prevent and treat breast cancer. The idea is that the body absorbs cough medicine at about the same rate as tamoxifen, allowing doctors to use it to test how patients respond to the breast-cancer drug. "This study is starting to identify a personalized medicine type of approach that will help identify those patients who should have their tamoxifen doses adjusted," said Dr. Leonidas Koniaris, who's familiar with the study findings. He's an associate professor of surgery at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida. Currently, it can be difficult to set a proper dose of tamoxifen for a patient. If the dose is off, the drug may lose effectiveness or cause a ... Read more
Related support groups: Tamoxifen, Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Tamosin, Emblon, Soltamox, Tamone, Tamoxen, Genox, Nolvadex D, Tamofen
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Related Condition Support Groups
Breast Cancer, Metastatic, Breast Cancer -- Adjuvant, Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer -- Palliative, Precocious Puberty, McCune-Albright Syndrome, Breast Cancer, Prevention, Breast Cancer -- Male
Related Drug Support Groups
Nolvadex, Tamoxifen Hexal, Emblon, Genox, Nolvadex D, Soltamox, Tamofen, Tamone, Tamosin, Tamoxen