Tamoxifen linked to endometrial cancer
SUTTON, England, Mar 01, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) — Tamoxifen use has been associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer, a British study said.
Anthony J. Swerdlow, of the Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton, England, found the risk is similar in pre- and postmenopausal women.
Swerdlow’s study involved 813 British patients who had endometrial cancer following breast cancer diagnosis and 1,067 control subjects who had breast cancer but not subsequent endometrial cancer.
Overall, tamoxifen treatment was associated with 2.4 times the risk of endometrial cancer compared with no treatment. The risk increased with the duration of treatment and did not diminish in the five years following the end of treatment.
The authors said until further data was available, their results “suggest that the associated risk of endometrial cancer makes treatment with tamoxifen beyond five years questionable.” The study is published in March edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
