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Longer tamoxifen therapy cuts heart disease deaths
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women with breast cancer who take tamoxifen for 5 rather than 2 years apparently lower their risk of dying from coronary heart disease, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
When compared with other forms of add-on or adjuvant therapy, tamoxifen "tends to decrease mortality from coronary heart disease," Dr. Bo Nordenskjold, from Linkoping University Hospital in Sweden, and colleagues write. "Our results strongly support the use of tamoxifen in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer patients," they add.
The findings come from a study of 4175 women with breast cancer who were free of any recurrence of the disease after taking tamoxifen for 2 years. Half the group was then assigned to continue this therapy for 3 more years, while the other half discontinued its use.
Compared with 2 years of tamoxifen therapy, 5 years of therapy was tied to a reduction in deaths from all causes, deaths specifically due to breast cancer, and with a decreased risk of developing cancer in the other breast.
However, the longer duration therapy was associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer.
Use of tamoxifen for 5 years cut heart disease mortality by 33 percent compared with that seen with 2 years of therapy, the investigators found. After 10 years, the death rate due specifically to coronary heart disease was 2.1 percent and 3.5 percent in the 5- and 2-year tamoxifen groups, respectively.
The findings indicate that in addition to cutting breast cancer deaths, 5 years of tamoxifen therapy reduces the risk of death from coronary heart disease, the team concludes
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women with breast cancer who take tamoxifen for 5 rather than 2 years apparently lower their risk of dying from coronary heart disease, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
When compared with other forms of add-on or adjuvant therapy, tamoxifen "tends to decrease mortality from coronary heart disease," Dr. Bo Nordenskjold, from Linkoping University Hospital in Sweden, and colleagues write. "Our results strongly support the use of tamoxifen in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer patients," they add.
The findings come from a study of 4175 women with breast cancer who were free of any recurrence of the disease after taking tamoxifen for 2 years. Half the group was then assigned to continue this therapy for 3 more years, while the other half discontinued its use.
Compared with 2 years of tamoxifen therapy, 5 years of therapy was tied to a reduction in deaths from all causes, deaths specifically due to breast cancer, and with a decreased risk of developing cancer in the other breast.
However, the longer duration therapy was associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer.
Use of tamoxifen for 5 years cut heart disease mortality by 33 percent compared with that seen with 2 years of therapy, the investigators found. After 10 years, the death rate due specifically to coronary heart disease was 2.1 percent and 3.5 percent in the 5- and 2-year tamoxifen groups, respectively.
The findings indicate that in addition to cutting breast cancer deaths, 5 years of tamoxifen therapy reduces the risk of death from coronary heart disease, the team concludes
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