Tamoxifen for Breast Cancer Prevention: the Down Side
Three articles dated 2000, 2004, and 2007 about Tamoxifen, the breast cancer drug prescribed for women:
Tamoxifen Ups Cancer Risk
by Dr. Mercola | October 01 2000
Results of a study from the Netherlands show that the drug tamoxifen, often used to treat breast cancer and as a preventive in some high risk women as well, increases the risk of developing endometrial cancer. In addition, this risk increases with time, leading researchers to question the use of the drug in healthy women.
- Women who take tamoxifen for 2 to 5 years have twice the risk of the cancer as women who have not taken it.
- Women who have taken tamoxifen for 5 years or more have a seven times higher risk of endometrial cancer.
- The total increased risk for all women who used tamoxifen at all was 50%.
- Advanced endometrial cancers were more common in women who had taken tamoxifen long-term than in those who had not.
- The 3-year survival for endometrial cancer was “significantly worse” for long-term tamoxifen users than non-users, the team reports.
The researchers state “we seriously question widespread use of tamoxifen as a preventative agent against breast cancer in healthy women.”
In an accompanying editorial, Karen Gelmon of the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada, advises that “before bounding forward with prescriptions for tamoxifen, clinicians should remember its risks and benefits.”
The Lancet September 9, 2000;356:868-869, 881-887.
28 September, 2004
| Drug ruled out in cancer battle | |||||||
Hopes that the drug tamoxifen - an effective treatment for breast cancer - could be used to prevent the disease have been ruled out by US scientists. Trials showed the drug can prevent the occurrence of cancer but the side effects for most women are severe, a University of North Carolina team found Its preventive quality was first raised when women treated for cancer in one breast found the tumour did not spread. The team’s calculations are published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Powerful drug Tamoxifen has proved its worth as a means of stopping the spread or recurrence of breast cancer in women who have already been treated for it. But, it was noticed back in the early 1980s that some women who were receiving the drug for cancer in one breast did not develop any cancer in the other breast. This prompted the suggestion that tamoxifen might have another preventative role for those women who are at risk of getting breast cancer but have yet to develop any signs of the disease. Trials have shown tamoxifen does prevent breast cancer from occurring in the first place. It works by blocking the female hormone oestrogen which is known to encourage breast tumour growth in some women.
But being a potent drug with known side effects, it is not known how many women would safely benefit from any protective effect. Dr Russell Harris and colleagues asked 605 women aged 40 to 69 attending a GP surgery to fill out questionnaires about their health and family histories of breast cancer. Then, using a proven formula for assessing breast cancer rates they estimated how many of these women would be likely to go on to develop breast cancer over the next five years. Most of the women were judged to be at very low risk of developing breast cancer. In others, tamoxifen therapy would not have been suitable because of existing conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes. Trials Therefore, the percentage of actual cancers prevented by tamoxifen would have been very small - between 6% and 8.3%, according to the researchers.
Dr Harris said: “Tamoxifen’s possibly harmful side effects, including blood clots and strokes, would rule out some 90% of women who might benefit from taking it each day.” Dr Michelle Barclay from Breakthrough Breast Cancer says: “Many women want to prevent breast cancer, especially those who are at increased risk due to their family history of the disease. “However, the side effect profile of tamoxifen in women who have not had breast cancer means that this is not the answer.” She said it was clear that more research into preventing breast cancer with drug treatments was needed. She said researchers were currently looking at whether a drug called anastrozole could prevent breast cancer. Like tamoxifen, this drug blocks the action of oestrogen, but it tends to have fewer side effects. This work is funded by Cancer Research UK, which is also investigating the use of tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer in high-risk women. Dr Julie Sharp from Cancer Research UK said: “Trials are ongoing and will provide vital information helping doctors choose the best strategy to prevent breast cancer in women at greatest risk.” |
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Shocking Revelation — This Cancer Drug CAUSES Cancer
by Dr. Mercola | October 23 2007
Tamoxifen is a drug that binds to your estrogen receptors. Therefore it was thought that it could prevent excess estrogen binding, hence halting cancer from forming.
It is generally prescribed to high-risk women to prevent breast cancer, and is usually taken for five years.
However, Tamoxifen has been found to cause cancer instead. According to a study published in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, the treatment of breast cancer with tamoxifen results in an increased risk of uterine cancer incidence and mortality.
This is just one in a growing line of studies published, raising serious concerns about the increased risk of uterine cancer for women who take tamoxifen as a cancer preventive drug.
Despite these concerns, tamoxifen is still on the market.
Sources:
International Journal of Gynecological Cancer 2007
Dr. Mercola’s Comments:
Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, let’s spread some real cancer awareness. Western medicine’s approach to cancer treatment is based on profit, not safety and effectiveness.
Let’s recap just a handful of the numerous deadly conventional cancer drugs on the market, and then I’ll share with you the best cancer-avoidance techniques I know.
Cancer Drugs - All Hype, Very Little Substance
Prices for new cancer therapies have skyrocketed. Cancer drug costs rose nearly 16 percent in 2006, while other prescription drugs averaged a 3 percent price increase.
But are they worth it? The fact is, these expensive medications often give patients just a few more months of life - and sometimes they kill people prematurely.
Take a look at these examples.
- AVASTIN - Avastin, when used to treat colorectal cancer, sold for $50,000 per year. However, once it was approved to treat breast and lung cancer as well, Genentech announced a new price tag: $100,000 per year, even though it may extend your life by no more than a few months.
- ERBITUX - Another colorectal cancer drug, with a price tag of nearly $10,000 per month, even though there is not a single study showing it helps colorectal cancer patients live longer.
- EVISTA (Raloxifene) — This Eli Lilly drug was found to prevent breast cancer by one-third in a study of more than 10,000 postmenopausal women. Your true cost? Trading your breast cancer prevention for a 50 percent increased risk of fatal strokes and blood clots. Ironically, Evista was once sold as an osteoporosis drug, being illegally promoted for treating cardiovascular disease back in 2002.
- GLEEVEC - Also sold under the name Glivec. This cancer drug, used to treat leukemia, unfortunately also kills heart muscle cells, which may cause fatal congestive heart failure.
- ABRAXANE - A new version of an old cancer drug, Taxol, sells for $4,200 per dose. The older version, which has similar effects, costs 25 times less.
The financial sacrifices you might make in order to afford a “miracle” cancer drug can be staggering. But what you need to know is that these exorbitantly priced drugs do not in any way, shape, or form, treat the cause of your problem, and pharmaceutical companies earn billions of dollars on this deception.
It seems that the more serious and life threatening the disease, the more expensive your drug solution is. The very vocal former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Marcia Angell, sums up the situation brilliantly: “It’s really exploiting the desperation of people with a life-threatening illness.”
So, how can they get away with charging such astronomical prices that only the very wealthy can afford? In case you were not aware of it, it’s a very specific strategy. The trick is to have your insurance company pay for it, or their main backup, YOU, through the federal government and your taxes.
This kind of behavior is the reason why the United States spends more than $2 trillion every year for healthcare, and it is ruining the American economy in the process — all due to corporate greed.
Making matters worse, as soon as a drug company comes out with a more expensive alternative, that’s the pill they’ll promote to both you and your physician. Suddenly, they want you to believe the older drugs are virtually worthless even though just a few years prior, when they were the new kid on the block, they were being heavily promoted as your latest and greatest must-use approach.
How to Prevent Cancer
Is it possible to prevent cancer? Yes. It is possible. But not by swallowing a chemical cocktail.
A more sensible, safer, and less expensive approach is to simply make some lifestyle changes. Even the American Cancer Society - which is as traditional as medical organizations come — now suggest you can achieve a 62 percent risk reduction with simple lifestyle changes, including:
- Make sure you get adequate sun exposure as that will not only reduce your risk of breast cancer by 50 percent, but ALL other cancers by the same amount. Remember that one million people die EVERY year due to lack of optimal sun exposure.
- Eat healthier (ideally based on your body’s unique nutritional type)
- Incorporate more exercise in your daily routine
- Stop smoking today
- Perform monthly breast self-examinations
But, one of the skills my father drilled into me from early childhood was: “Never settle for second best.” Why would you settle for a meager 62 percent reduction?
I believe you can VIRTUALLY ELIMINATE your cancer risk if you follow these risk reduction strategies, even though they have not been formally “proven” yet by conservative researchers, including:
1. Control your insulin levels: Make certain that you limit your intake of processed foods and sugars as much as possible.
2. Get appropriate amounts of animal-based omega-3 fats and make sure you use cod liver oil if you don’t have regular access to sun exposure.
3. Get appropriate exercise. One of the primary reasons exercise works is that it drives your insulin levels down. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks.
4. Normalize your vitamin D levels with safe amounts of sun exposure, or use a safe tanning bed. Alternatively you could use oral vitamin D and carefully monitor blood levels to prevent overdose.
5. Eat according to your nutritional type. The potent anti-cancer effects of this principle are very much under appreciated. When we treat cancer patients in our clinic, this is one of the most powerful anti-cancer strategies we have.
6. Have a tool to permanently erase your neurological short-circuiting, which can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. Energy psychology seems to be one of the best approaches and my particular favorite tool, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique.
7. Only 25 percent of people eat enough vegetables, so by all means, eat as many vegetables as you are comfortable with. If you are a carb nutritional type you may need up to 300 percent more vegetables than a protein nutritional type.
Ideally, they should be fresh and organic. However, please understand that, frequently, fresh conventionally grown vegetables are still healthier than old and wilted organic ones. They are certainly better than no vegetables at all.
8. Maintain your ideal body weight.
9. Get enough high-quality sleep.
10. Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners, and air pollution.
11. Boil, poach, or steam your foods, rather than frying or charbroiling them.
Save your health and your money. You work too hard to waste either one on man-made “miracle” drugs and cures.
Related Links:
Think Prescription Drugs are Safer and More Scientifically Proven Than Supplements? Think Again.
How to Reduce Your Risk of Cancer By 50%
Breast Cancer Awareness Month Story
Cancer Survivors Network
http://csn.cancer.org/node/138647
Hi,
I too am on Tamoxifen and not happy about it. I found a non-profit org that has some pretty interesting documented research material. The website is: www.lef.org. I discovered that the cruciferous vegetable, i.e., brussel sprouts, kale, etc can do what the tamoxifen is doing but instead of at 60% effective at 90% effective. Now since we all can’t consume that many brussel sprouts, they have a capsule called: Indole-3 Carbinol and come 200mg. I am in conversation with my oncologist and explained I wish to take this food supplement which enhances the effect (positively this time) of tamoxifen. My ultimate goal is to just take the Indole-3 Carbinol (also called I3C) and not take Tamoxifen. I just don’t want to tick off my oncologist, so I am trying to work with him. Look up the website and read for yourself. I decided to join LEF or Life Extensions and its a tax right off. Now I can get better pricing on the I3C instead of $28 a bottle, I got 4 @ $19.50. You take two if 120 lbs, since I weigh more than that I will be taking 3 a day. Another interesting site is: jm@mercola.com
The is Dr. John Mercola and he writes a newsletter that I get via e-mail. Like all this info, you take it with of salt. He gets pretty extreme in his diet approach but I like some on his ideas. Check it out.
Lots of warm fuzzies and hugs,
Iris
