Related topics: breast cancer , women
Tamoxifen
hideTamoxifen is an antagonist of the estrogen receptor in breast tissue and is therefore used in the treatment of breast cancer. As of 2004, it was the world's largest selling drug for that purpose.
Some breast cancer cells require estrogen to grow. Estrogen binds to and activates the estrogen receptor in these cells. Tamoxifen is metabolized into compounds that also bind to the estrogen receptor but do not activate it. Furthermore tamoxifen prevents estrogen from binding to its receptor. Hence breast cancer cell growth is blocked.
Tamoxifen was discovered by ICI Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca) and is sold under the trade names Nolvadex, Istubal, and Valodex. However, the drug, even before its patent expiration, was and still is widely referred to by its generic name "tamoxifen."
For more information about Tamoxifen, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with tamoxifen
Landmark study confirms chemotherapy benefit in breast cancer patients
Dec 11, 2009 |
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Chemotherapy generally improves survival in postmenopausal breast cancer patients, according to a landmark study led by Dr. Kathy Albain of Loyola University Health System.
'New' estrogen receptor found to be key player in tamoxifen resistance
Oct 30, 2008 |
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Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered a novel way in which breast cancer cells become resistant to tamoxifen, the world's largest-selling breast cancer prevention and treatment drug. They say ...
Most Oncologists Feel New Genetic Test for Tamoxifen Sensitivity Not Ready for the Clinic
Dec 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Despite commercial availability and direct to consumer marketing of a new genetic test designed to reveal a breast cancer patient’s sensitivity to tamoxifen, most physicians in the U.S. are not currently ...
Genetic variation of enzyme linked with outcomes for women receiving tamoxifen
Oct 06, 2009 |
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Among women with early stage breast cancer, genetic variation of a certain enzyme appears to be associated with clinical outcomes for women treated with tamoxifen, according to a study in the October 7 issue of JAMA.
Breast cancer drug shows promise against serious infections
Jul 20, 2009 |
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An FDA-approved drug used for preventing recurrence of breast cancer shows promise in fighting life-threatening fungal infections common in immune-compromised patients, such as infants born prematurely and patients with cancer. ...
Some antidepressants may risk breast cancer return
May 31, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Breast cancer survivors risk having their disease come back if they use certain antidepressants while also taking the cancer prevention drug tamoxifen, worrisome new research shows.
Tamoxifen chemoprevention tied to early detection of breast cancer
Oct 07, 2008 |
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The drug tamoxifen does not prevent or treat estrogen receptor (ER) negative breast cancer, but it can make the disease easier to find, researchers report in the Oct. 1 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
High-risk women reluctant to take tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer, study finds
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Even when women at high-risk of breast cancer are well-informed about the risks and benefits of using the drug tamoxifen for prevention, only 6 percent said they were likely to take it.
Estrogen receptor-alpha, breast cancer patients and tamoxifen response
Nov 25, 2009 |
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Researchers have found evidence of a statistically significant survival benefit from adjuvant tamoxifen among patients whose estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors had high levels of phosphorylation of ER-alpha; at serine-118 ...
Study of adjuvant endocrine treatment for breast cancer reveals cost of noncompliance
Sep 22, 2009 |
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The largest study in the world of treatments for post menopausal, hormone positive breast cancer has shown that patients who continue to take exemestane or tamoxifen do significantly better than patients who start to take ...
Switching early breast cancer patients to exemestane improves long-term survival
Sep 21, 2009 |
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New research has found that switching post-menopausal women with early breast cancer to the drug exemestane (Aromasin) after two or three years of tamoxifen rather than keeping them on tamoxifen for five years improves the ...
Long-term tamoxifen use increases risk of an aggressive, hard to treat type of second breast cancer
Aug 25, 2009 |
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While long-term tamoxifen use among breast cancer survivors decreases their risk of developing the most common, less aggressive type of second breast cancer, such use is associated with a more than four-fold increased risk ...
Cholesterol appears to promote tamoxifen resistance in some breast cancer cells
Apr 20, 2009 |
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Breast cancer cells in the laboratory that don't respond to tamoxifen may be producing high amounts of cholesterol in order to provide a kind of shield against the drug, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center ...
Goserelin improves long-term survival in premenopausal women with early breast cancer
Feb 24, 2009 |
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Goserelin, a lutenizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist, reduces the long-term risk of disease recurrence and deaths in premenopausal women with early breast cancer who did not take tamoxifen, according to trial data reported ...
Meta-analyses of global trials finds in favor of aromatase inhibitors
Dec 11, 2008 |
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Two separate meta-analyses of clinical trials from around the world that tested tamoxifen against aromatase inhibitor drugs in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer have each reached the same conclusion: aromatase ...
