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    Home > Active Ingredient News > Antitumor Therapy > A must-see for women!

    A must-see for women!

    • Last Update: 2021-04-14
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    When it comes to preventing breast cancer, many people will think of Angelina Jolie's breast removal because of the high risk of breast cancer.

    However, there are less radical ways, for example, oral tamoxifen can also play a good preventive effect.

    But sometimes the serious side effects of tamoxifen make many women have to stop the drug.

    However, new research shows that if the side effects of taking the standard dose of tamoxifen are serious, the dose can be lowered and the side effects can be greatly reduced.
    The low dose is also expected to prevent breast cancer.

    Breast cancer: the number one threat to women's health The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released the latest global cancer burden data for 2020 based on the incidence and mortality of 36 cancers in 185 countries.

    The number of new patients with breast cancer in the world reached 2.
    26 million, 60,000 more than the second-ranked lung cancer, ranking first among all cancers.

    The incidence of breast cancer accounts for 24.
    5% of the total number of new cancers in women worldwide, with 680,000 deaths, ranking fifth among all cancers.

    Among newly diagnosed cancer patients, 1 in 8 women is a breast cancer patient.

    Breast cancer is still the number one threat to women's health.

    Figure 1.
    The incidence of breast cancer ranks first among all cancers.
    The huge pressure of modern life, coupled with unhealthy diet and rest, is closely related to the increase in the incidence of breast cancer year by year.

    Cancer prevention is more important than cancer treatment.
    Many people talk about cancer discoloration because many cancers are at an advanced stage when they are detected.
    The treatment measures that can be taken are very limited, and breast cancer is no exception.

    The best way to fight cancer has always been to cure the disease and take preventive measures.

    Speaking of breast cancer prevention, one person I have to mention is: American Hollywood movie star Angelina Jolie.

    Because of her inheritance of the BRCA gene mutation in her family, she was worried that she might also get breast cancer in the future, so she removed both breasts in advance in 2013 to completely prevent the occurrence of breast cancer.

    Although this extreme method can completely prevent breast cancer, it is somewhat radical and other women do not necessarily have to follow suit.

    Are there more gentle measures to prevent breast cancer? some! Oral medication is fine.

    Breast cancer preventive drugs: Tamoxifen Tamoxifen has an anti-estrogen effect on breast tissue, thereby reducing the proliferation of epithelial cells, reducing the incidence of breast cancer, reducing breast cancer recurrence and metastasis, and reducing the risk of breast cancer death.

    Therefore, tamoxifen is a gold drug for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.

    A study of 28,832 women at high breast cancer risk showed that compared with placebo, taking 20 mg of tamoxifen per day can reduce the risk of breast cancer by 30%.
    In addition, there are many other milestones.
    Significant studies have confirmed the effectiveness of tamoxifen against breast cancer.

    Therefore, the US FDA approved tamoxifen as a drug to prevent breast cancer.

    Figure 2.
    Breast cancer preventive drugs: Tamoxifen However, things are not that simple.
    Tamoxifen also has a dark side.

    Although many women take the recommended dose of tamoxifen (20 mg) for a long time, although it can prevent breast cancer, it also causes a variety of side effects that cannot be ignored.
    The most serious is liver damage.

    A Japanese study showed that long-term use of the recommended dose of tamoxifen will increase the risk of fatty liver by 38%.

    In addition, there may be many adverse reactions such as sweating, insomnia, flushing, and blood clots.

    These side effects make many women who take tamoxifen have to stop taking the drug midway.

    Is there any way to reduce the side effects of tamoxifen and make it play an anti-cancer effect? Tamoxifen: Lower doses may also be effective.
    It is easy to think that since taking high doses of tamoxifen can cause many side effects, can you lower the dose? A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology of the American Society of Clinical Oncology gave a positive answer. A total of 1439 women were enrolled in the study, of which 1230 (474 ​​premenopausal and 756 postmenopausal) took different doses of tamoxifen and completed mammogram review (0 mg 211 cases, 1 mg 205 cases, 2.
    5 mg 200 cases, 5 mg in 201 cases, 10 mg in 210 cases, and 20 mg in 203 cases), and the intention-to-treat analysis was performed.

    The results showed that the mammography density of the low-dose tamoxifen group decreased by at least 17%.

    The mammogram density is closely related to the incidence of breast cancer, which implies that low-dose tamoxifen also has a potential preventive effect on breast cancer.

    However, the specific role needs further clinical data verification.

    Figure 3.
    The effect of taking different doses of tamoxifen.
    More importantly, compared with 20 mg, 2.
    5 mg of tamoxifen caused about 50% reduction in severe vascular symptoms (hot flashes, cold sweats, night sweats).

    Therefore, women who are worried about side effects do not need to completely reject tamoxifen.
    They can choose to take low-dose tamoxifen.
    There are not so many side effects, and it can also play a role in preventing and controlling breast cancer.

    In fact, in daily life, you can also reduce the risk of breast cancer through healthy eating habits, strengthening physical exercise, and not smoking or drinking.

    In addition, regular breast cancer screening is also necessary for high-risk groups.

    Learn more, pay more attention, download the cancer degree APP, join the breast cancer care camp, and exchange experience in cancer prevention, treatment and rehabilitation together! References Eriksson, M.
    , Eklund, M.
    , Borgquist, S.
    , Hellgren, R.
    , et al.
    (2021).
    Low-Dose Tamoxifen for Mammographic Density Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
    J Clin Oncol, JCO2002598.
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