Research News
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Research Continues to Show Benefit of Chemotherapy After Breast Cancer Surgery
Research suggests that post-menopausal women diagnosed with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer that had spread to the lymph nodes who got adjuvant chemotherapy AND adjuvant hormonal therapy had a lower risk of recurrence and were more likely to be alive than women who got only hormonal therapy. The study also showed that starting hormonal therapy after chemotherapy was done was better than giving hormonal therapy and chemotherapy at the same time and that a genetic test can help figure out if women diagnosed with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes will benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.
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Zometa Before Surgery Doesn’t Seem to Have Benefits
Research shows that Zometa (chemical name: zoledronic acid) doesn't destroy or slow the growth of breast cancer cells when given before surgery to post-menopausal women diagnosed with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer.
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Breast Cancers with Activated Estrogen Receptor More Sensitive to Tamoxifen
Research suggests that hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers with an activated form of estrogen receptor (ER alpha S118-P) benefited from tamoxifen treatment; cancers without the activated form didn't benefit from tamoxifen.
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Low Levels of CYP2D6 Enzyme Affect Tamoxifen’s Effectiveness
Tamoxifen isn't as effective in women diagnosed with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer who make very little or no CYP2D6 enzyme compared to women with higher CYP2D6 levels.
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Research Suggests Link Between Tamoxifen and Risk of Hormone-Receptor-Negative Cancer in Opposite Breast
Research suggests that there may be a link between taking taking tamoxifen for 5 years and a higher risk of developing hormone-receptor-negative cancer in the opposite breast.
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Compared to Tamoxifen, 5 Years of Femara Improves Survival
Taking Femara (chemical name: letrozole) for 5 years as the first adjuvant hormonal therapy medicine improved overall survival by 13% compared to taking tamoxifen for 5 years.
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Estradiol Therapy May Help Some Advanced-Stage Breast Cancers Start Responding to Hormonal Therapy Again
A small study found that estradiol, a form of estrogen, was an effective treatment for about 30% of advanced-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers that had stopped responding to hormonal therapy.
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Do Antidepressants Interfere with Tamoxifen? Results Unclear
While the results aren't definitive, one of two new studies suggests that women who take tamoxifen at the same time as the antidepressant medicines Prozac or Paxil may not get the full benefits of tamoxifen.
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American Society Clinical Oncology Now Recommends Evista or Tamoxifen to Reduce Risk in High-Risk Women
New guidelines from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) now recommend both tamoxifen and Evista (chemical name: raloxifene) to reduce breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women at high risk.
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Tamoxifen and Zoladex Offer Same Recurrence Risk Reduction
A new international study has found that tamoxifen and Zoladex (chemical name: goserelin) work about the same to lower the risk of breast cancer coming back.
