Tamoxifen is the most common hormonal therapy used for the systemic treatment of breast cancer. Tamoxifen has been used for many years to treat metastatic breast cancer, and more recently, to treat postmenopausal women with new breast cancer. Even more recently, it has been added to the full treatment of some younger women, usually after the completion of chemotherapy.

Breast cancers are classified as being either estrogen and progestrone receptor positive or negative. This will be one of the things described by the pathologist who reviews your tumor cells. Those cells which are er/pr positive require estrogen to grow and divide. Tamoxifen acts as an estrogen blocker (anti-estrogen), making any remaining cancer cells unable to respond to estrogen. The cells then die.

Many node-negative postmenopausal women whose breast cancers are er/pr positive will be given tamoxifen for five years in lieu of systemic chemotherapy. Older women whose breast cancers are er/pr negative may well receive chemotherapy. Occasionally, the situation demands that postmenopausal breast cancer be treated with both chemotherapy and tamoxifen.

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Tags: Women’s Health

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