Tamoxifen side effects
Tamoxifen is a venerable drug that revolutionized breast cancer care when it was first introduced but it has aged and largely replaced by aromatase inhibitors(AI). Ttamoxifen is still useful in pre-menopausal women, in whom AIs do not work.
Tamoxifen has a variety of bothersome side effects, related mostly to forced early menopause. Common side effects include hot flushes, vaginal discharge or bleeding, but these tend to decrease after the first two years of treatment. Although low, there is a significant risk of c;otting events and small risk of uterine cancer, which is usually noticed in early stages because of the bleeding and successfully treated. There is small increase in the risk of cataracts. On the other hand, tamoxifen decreases fracture rate and osteoporosis and may stave off dementia and cardiac problems.
A variety of symptomatic approaches have been employed but none have been rigorously assessed(http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/Images/tamoxifen_tcm28-15153.pdf_). Pharmacologic treatments that are used for menopause symptoms management are also used for tamoxifen induced menopause.
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