Does tamoxifen cause uterine cancer?
In the BCPT, women taking tamoxifen had more than twice the risk of uterine cancer than women taking placebo. The risk was the same as (or less than) the risk from estrogen replacement therapy. More studies are under way to examine the role other risk factors for uterine cancer play in women taking tamoxifen. Uterine cancer can be life threatening. Most cases that have occurred during studies of tamoxifen have been found early. Treatment was usually effective. Breast cancer patients, though, who developed uterine cancer while taking tamoxifen have died from the disease. Two key symptoms are abnormal vaginal bleeding and pelvic pain. If you take tamoxifen, see your doctor if get these symptoms.
