NEW YORK, NY -- February 14, 2005 -- Women with breast cancer treated with
the anti-estrogen drug tamoxifen are at significantly less risk of having a
heart attack or symptoms of heart stress such as angina, according to a new
study. The study, published in the March 15, 2005 issue of CANCER (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer-newsroom),
a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, finds the benefit
becomes pronounced within two years of therapy and is maintained throughout its
use.
Tamoxifen has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence by as
much as 50 percent. In addition, increasing evidence indirectly supports its
protective effects on the heart. Studies have shown women taking tamoxifen show
reductions in markers of cardiac disease, such as bad cholesterol and
homocysteine. However, there is little direct evidence of tamoxifen's heart
protective benefits by way of reduced morbidity or mortality.
To evaluate its hypothesized cardioprotective affects, Brian D. Bradbury, D.Sc.,
M.A. and a team of investigators from Boston University's Schools of Medicine
and Public Health reviewed the records of 3030 breast cancer patients treated
with tamoxifen and 4233 patients with other cancers not treated with tamoxifen.
Women treated with tamoxifen were less likely to develop symptomatic heart
disease than those who did not receive tamoxifen. On further analysis current
use of tamoxifen was associated with significantly reduced risk of heart
disease. Moreover, the reduced heart disease effects were observed in women who
had completed less than two years of therapy and continued throughout the
duration of the five years of recommended therapy.
The authors conclude, "These data are consistent with the proposition that
treatment with tamoxifen for women with breast cancer may additionally lower a
woman's risk of developing ischemic heart disease."
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