For more than three decades the go-to drug for breast cancer patients that interferes with the activity of estrogen, tamoxifen may also be valuable in reducing the risk of death for folks fighting lung cancer.
Scientists monitored the health of more than 6,600 female patients registered with the Geneva Cancer Registry in Switzerland, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer between 1980-2003, until the end of 2007 for the incidence and death from lung cancer. Nearly half (3,066) of those patients participating in the study received anti-estrogen therapy.
Overall, just 40 patients developed lung cancer, statistically small by any measure and not much different statistically between women participating in the study and cases among the general population. The real difference -- 87 percent -- was the declining number of cases leading to death from lung cancer while taking anti-estrogen therapy among patients in the study group compared to the general population.
BTW, check with your doctor to ensure you're not taking a drug -- an SSRI like Prozac or Paxil -- that suppresses the CYP2DG enzyme, a critical trigger that allows tamoxifen to do its job.
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