Raloxifene versus tamoxifen
Common Questions and Answers about Raloxifene versus tamoxifen
evista
Lymphnodes clear and had five weeks of radiation treatment. Tried Tomxifene but made me ill. Dr, recommended Raloxifene. does Raloxifene prevent the recurrance of my type of breast cancer? Marian
This discussion is related to <a href='/posts/show/261381'>Aromatase vs. Raloxifene</a>.
I am supposed to start Raloxifene. This may cause hot flashes. If severe enough, dr will rx Effexor to treat flashes. I have been reading such negative information about the side effects of Effexor, and even worse, the are withdrawal symptoms if you have to get off of it. Is there anyone reading this that actually had to take effexor along with Raloxifene? If so, could you tell me please if you had a good, or bad experience? Thank you for any input.
A woman with ADH as well as other risk factors may have a risk that is high enough to consider medications. The medications currently FDA approved as chemoprevention for breast cancer are tamoxifen and raloxifene. Decisions to use a medication as chemoprevention would be made based on weighing the risks and benefits to the individual patient.
Aside from radiation, you can ask your doctor about other breast cancer risk reduction strategies such as that of hormonal treatment with tamoxifen or raloxifene. Other breast conditions that may increase the risk of invasive cancer would include DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ).
Regards.
ER positivity is a good sign, since this means that the DCIS is responsive to hormonal treatment. I suggest that you discuss with your oncologist regarding additional treatments like tamoxifen or raloxifene. These two drugs are proven to further decrease the chance of the cancer recurring on the same or the other breast and I believe would be of great benefit to your mother.
Side effects seen more often with tamoxifen versus Femara were hot flashes and vaginal bleeding. Joint pain was experienced more often with Femara versus tamoxifen.
ref: http://www.femara.com/home.jsp?m=2
Additional side effects for both Femara and tamoxifen are heart attack, thromboembolic events, endometrial cancer and second malignancies.
bOTH THE DRUGS CAN CAUSE GAIN IN WEIGHT.
Other forms of treatment post-operatively would include additional radiation therapy, or hormonal treatment with Tamoxifen or Raloxifene. All of these additional treatments are aimed to lessen the chance of recurrence as well as prevent the future development of frankly invasive cancers.
Regards.
Cancer Center physicians are participating in a clinical trial called STAR, where the effectiveness of Raloxifene is being compared to that of Tamoxifen for the prevention of breast cancer in high risk women.
Your cancer center physician will be able to discuss each of these options with you in more detail, and help to guide your treatment decision to the one most appropriate for your specific situation.
If you want further information please go to breastcancer.org the link is:
http://www.
Side effects that are comparable between Femara and tamoxifen include night sweats, weight gain, nausea and tiredness. Side effects seen more often with tamoxifen versus Femara were hot flashes and vaginal bleeding. The benefits of FEMARA in clinical trials are based on 24 months of treatment. Further follow-up is needed to determine long-term results.(http://www.femara.com/content/femara-what-is.jsp)
Take care and regards.
I believe that you are a candidate for risk lowering strategies such as taking hormonal agents (raloxifene or tamoxifen), or surgery (mastectomy). All of these should be discussed with an oncologist or surgeon.
Regards.
I saw a paper from canada9 funded by novartis suggesting the femara have shown better survival figures than tamoxifen. Is femara better than arimedex? have you seen this paper.
Mum was diagnosed March 2005 OVCA stage 3, reoccurance 2007 and 2008, each time treated with carbo and taxol. Currently in remission. Dr put her on femera and tamoxifen but since being on tamoxifen she has had 2 DVTs in her right leg. Dr today stopped them and put her on warfrine (sorry about the spelling). Dr thinks she might have to be on this for the rest of her life. Dr also said she expects mums cancer to come back at some point but her cancer is very slow growing.
Thank you for your comments... it's much appreciated!
God bless you, too!
There are some medications that are used to treat breast cancer that can be tried, though they would be used off label. These include tamoxifen (Soltamox) and raloxifene (Evista), here in the U.S. Another is Danazol. I don't know if they would be available in your country or not. Some of these drugs are quite potent and may have unwanted side effects. Be sure to discuss all of that with your doctor prior to taking them.
The other option is the surgery.
TBG excess production can be hereditary, which is X-linked dominant transmission, or it can be secondary to excess estrogens, as in pregnancy, use of oral contraceptives, hormone replacement, and medications like raloxifene or tamoxifen [4, 5]. The more highly sialylated TBG is cleared more slowly from plasma than the more positively charged TBG, because sialylation inhibits the hepatic uptake of glycoproteins.
Systemic therapy in the form of tamoxifen can also be given in hormone receptor positive disease. There is currently no consensus regarding the optimal treatment of DCIS.
Radiotherapy after surgery in DCIS is done in order to decrease the risk local recurrence. Numerous studies already support this approach. Comparing radiotherapy versus no radiotherapy, there is an advantage in decreasing local recurrence, with a risk reduction of about 40-50%.
Hope this helps.
I have quit my Tamoxifen after two months due to my terrible sleeping (hot flashes) or not sleeping would be the term. I went off HRT when diagnosed last spring -- stage 1, a 1.1 cm tumor with a .25 tumor off the side of that. My nodes were clear. I had resumed hot flashes after quitting HRT but they were much worse at night with the Tamoxifen. From my reading I understand it is much more controversial than presented by my oncologists.
This leasion corresponds to the mmagographic abnormality. The differential includes a papilloma versus possibly a small carninoms such as a papillary or medullary carcinoma. Surgical excision is recommended.
I am seeing surgeon next week.
1. What does this mean?
2. What to the mean when they say differential includes...
3. How serious are papillary or medullary carcinoma?
4. If biopsy is positive, what is normal treatment regimen?
Thank you.
We saw a small spot by my liver almost 1 year (June 08) after I started tamoxifen but I continued on tamoxifen until Jan. of this year .. about 18 months of reasonably good health. (The liver spot was too small to start chemo and remained unchanged for many months.)
With tamoxifen, I took 10 mg, twice a day with little or no side effects .. hot flashes mostly. (Women who took 20 mg .. once a day .. had bone pain, etc.). If you go on Arimidex .. keep this in mind ..
Use of Raloxifene is intended to decrease the risk of osteoporosis and to decrease the risk of invasise breast cancer or to prevent invasive breast cancer from retuning in women who have had invasive BC.
If you have questions or concerns about using it, it would be best to discuss them with the physician who prescribed it.
Best wishes...
Diagnosed IIIC July 2003 complete hysterectomy -- 1483 CA125 prior to surgery, 27 after first round of chemo --- Carbo/taxol/doxil two rounds on clinical trials then finished up with four rounds carbo taxol (kicked of trials no hemotologic recovery) -- CA125 was 5 -- started climbing 18 months later and used Tamoxifen for 6 months before starting another 6 rounds of carbo/taxol -- scans showed tumors still there although counts were 7.
I have been on Tamoxifen for a little over two years for breast cancer. I am 46 and pre-menopausal. The first 22 months on the tamoxifen I had my period and occassional hot flashes. then one month my period stopped and my hot flashes. At month 27 on Tamoxifen, I had an ultrasound that shows a lickening of the uterean wall and 3 complex ovarian cysts. My Dr. is doing a biopsy but my question is why would my periods AND the hot flashes go away completely?
You're talking about Tamoxifen and Paxil used at the same time, yes? It has been proven that certain SSRI's which is what Paxil is do stop the benefits of tamoxifen.
From Pharmacist's Letter's: July 2009, vol 25, no. 7
"You'll see new warnings not to combine tamoxifen with certain SSRIs..paroxetine, fluoxetine, and sertraline. .... Women have a higher risk of breast cancer recurrence if they take tamoxifen along with paroxetine, fluoxetine, or sertraline...
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