Does tamoxifen have other possible side effects?
Like most medicines, tamoxifen causes side effects in some women. The side effects most often reported by women in the BCPT study were hot flashes and vaginal discharge. There were other side effects, but they were no more common in the women who took tamoxifen than in the women who took placebo. Some research has shown that women who take tamoxifen have a slightly higher risk for cataracts (a clouding of the lens of the eye). In the BCPT study, women in the tamoxifen group were 21% more likely to develop cataracts than women in the placebo group. They were also more likely to have cataract surgery. But the IBIS-I study did not find an increased risk of cataracts. And as women get older, they are more likely to develop cataracts whether or not they take tamoxifen. As in the BCPT study, women taking tamoxifen in the IBIS-I study were also more likely to have vaginal discharge and hot flashes. A newer report on the IBIS-I study also found an increased risk of vaginal yeast infections and
