Tamoxifen, The Positives And The Negatives
By Tresa Erickson

If you're one of the 10 million women in the United States at high risk for breast cancer, you may be familiar with the drug tamoxifen. It has been used to stop the spread of breast cancer and was recently studied to determine if it would help prevent women at high risk for breast cancer from getting the disease. According to the results of the study, the drug will reduce women's chances for developing breast cancer almost in half.

To date, tamoxifen is the only drug used to prevent breast cancer that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. However, that doesn't mean that every woman at high risk for breast cancer should take the drug. Physicians generally won't prescribe it for women younger than 35 because it reduces the activity of the hormone estrogen and may advise against it in cases where the risks are too great.

While tamoxifen generally works to slow down the activity of estrogen in breast tissue, the hormone that feeds breast cancer, it sometimes produces the opposite effect in other tissue, setting the stage for other potential problems. In addition, tamoxifen has proven to increase the risk for pulmonary embolism, stroke, cataracts and two types of uterine cancer. Because of these risks, physicians generally only keep women on the drug for five years or less.

Women interested in reducing their chances of developing breast cancer through the use of tamoxifen should discuss the drug with their physician. The physician will determine if their breast cancer risk outweighs the risks associated with tamoxifen using the Gail method. Generally women in their 50s who have had a hysterectomy which will eliminate the uterine cancer risk may take it, whereas women 60 or older may not simply because they are more at risk for stroke and uterine cancer.

Women who decide to take tamoxifen should also be aware of the side effects. Many have reported experiencing menopausal symptoms, like menstrual irregularity, headaches, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, skin rash, hot flashes and more. Some women, on the other hand, have experienced no side effects at all. It all depends on the woman and how her body reacts to the drug.

The decision to take tamoxifen is not an easy one. Only you can decide for sure if the risks and any side effects you may experience are worth it. In the meantime, researchers are looking at other drugs that may provide the same kind of breast cancer prevention as tamoxifen but without the risks. Until then, tamoxifen is your best bet for preventing breast cancer.