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Tamoxifen Benefits Heart and Breast

There are new insights about the benefits of the breast cancer drug tamoxifen. This medication has been available for 30 years and works by blocking the action of estrogen in breast tissue. Starting in 1987 British researchers assigned women with early stage breast cancer to take tamoxifen daily for two years. After the initial phase of the study was completed, 3,449 women were randomly assigned to either stop the medicine or continue taking tamoxifen for three more years. Investigators continued to track all the women in the trial through 2010.

A new analysis shows that women who took tamoxifen for five years instead of two were less likely to experience a recurrence. They were also 30 percent less likely to experience cancer in the unaffected breast.

More surprisingly, women who took tamoxifen for five years were less likely to die from heart disease compared to women who only took the drug for two years. Because tamoxifen is available in generic form it is one of the most affordable treatments available following breast cancer.

[Journal of Clinical Oncology, March 21, 2011]

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About the Author
Terry Graedon, PhD, is a medical anthropologist and co-host of The People’s Pharmacy radio show, co-author of The People’s Pharmacy syndicated newspaper columns and numerous books, and co-founder of The People’s Pharmacy website. Terry taught in the Duke University School of Nursing and was an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology. She is a Fellow of the Society of Applied Anthropology. Terry is one of the country's leading authorities on the science behind folk remedies..
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