Australian women reassured of the benefits of tamoxifen

Australian women should be reassured that tamoxifen is a very effective tool in the treatment of breast cancer.

The recent findings from a Swedish study, suggesting adverse effects of tamoxifen in some women, are not statistically significant and provide no reason for any woman to change her current treatment based on this evidence.

In fact, the world’s largest review of early breast cancer trials published in the Lancet in May 2005 found the long-term benefits of current standard treatments, including tamoxifen, are significantly better than originally anticipated.

The review found treatment for early breast cancer with chemotherapy and tamoxifen can halve the risk of death from the disease after 15 years and the use of tamoxifen alone can reduce the risk of death from breast cancer by one third.

It is important to remember, however, that breast cancer is not one disease and therefore, tamoxifen will have a better response in some women than others.

Clinical trials are currently underway to determine the optimum hormonal treatment for pre-menopausal women with breast cancer based on specific characteristics of the disease. This will improve our ability to tailor treatment for individual women.

Any woman who is concerned about her current treatment should discuss this with her doctor or medical oncologist.

*The National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre is funded by the Australian Government and works with women, health professionals, cancer organisations, researchers and governments to improve health outcomes for women with breast and ovarian cancer.