Does the drug tamoxifen work?!
Question: for people that have breast cancer? and do all the side effects occur?
Answers: for people that have breast cancer? and do all the side effects occur?
I'll answer this backwards. No there are no side effects that I know of in taking Tamoxifen (from personal experience, I'm a guy that was diagnosed with breast cancer 2.5 years ago). No to the does it work question: Like all drugs it works for a time period. I was on it for about 18 months or so then my Dr said it was no longer working and my cancer had started to spread so he put me on another pill called Femara. From what I know a little chemo is included in that pill (also like tamoxifen taken daily) around last August. So far it's holding steady but in time it too will no longer work and either they'll put me on another drug or I will die from the cancer. Since it had metastized to my bones even before I was diagnosed then I think it will eventually be the latter of those last 2 choices.
tamoxifen is the gold standard treatment for oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer, although its quite an old drug. but it has to be oestrogen postive breast cancer, which is about 80% of breast cancers. no one knows why breast cancer occurs, but what we do know is that oestrogens play an important part in that high levels promote progression and maintainance of the condition. therefore blocking the effects of oestrogen helps to treat the condition greatly, which is what tamoxifen does.
it doesnt reduce the amount of oestrogen in your blood, it stops it working by blocking the oestrogen receptors on the cells, which are cancerous. its kinda like stopping someone pushing the button which is causing a cell to behave badly.
it has shown to be one of the best treatments avaliable for treating oestrogen positive breast cancer.
now the side effects. if you are on tamoxifen, and read the side effects, these arent really a reliable guide because the drug companies list every single possible side effect that is noticed when they are trialling a drug, in an effort to cover themselves from a legal standpoint. doesnt matter if only one out of a hundred thousand had a blue rash say, they will list it.
so im going to tell you the main side effect which may be of more use to you.
this is an increased risk of endometrial cancer, so you need to be monitored for this when your taking tamoxifen.
although, tamoxifen blocks oestrogen in the breast, for some unknown reason it increases oestrogen in the endometrium (womb) and therefore there is an increased risk of developing cancer of the womb.
but please dont be under the assumption that all the side effect are going to occur in you!!!!
for more advice, talk to your GP who will be able to tell you more, and give you some better information
I'm glad there are drugs to block the estrogen. I take another drug that does the same thing. Yes it works. I don't have any side effects.