Estrogen Receptor Antagonist Reduces Death Risk in ER-Positive Breast Cancer Patients

Estrogen Receptor Antagonist Reduces Death Risk in ER-Positive Breast Cancer Patients: dying

. In women with ER-positive disease, tamoxifen reduces the risk of dying from breast cancer by about a third over 15 years — during the 5 years it is taken and for 10 years after it is stopped, according to a meta-analysis published online July 29 in the Lancet.

... The relative risk (RR) for recurrence was nearly halved during tamoxifen treatment (0.53 during years 0 to 4). It was also significantly reduced, by about a third (RR, 0.68), during years 5 to 9, but then it plateaued (RR, 0.97) during years 10 to 14, suggesting that there was no further gain or loss after year 10, the researchers explain....

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• Tamoxifen reduces rates of recurrence and mortality from breast cancer when given to women with early breast cancer, independent of chemotherapy, nodal status, and tumor stage.
• Adverse effects of tamoxifen include uterine cancer, with an absolute risk increase of 2.6% for women older than 55 years, and thromboembolic disease.