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Long-Term Benefits of 5 Years of Tamoxifen

March 28, 2011

Women who took tamoxifen for 5 years after initial breast cancer treatment had a lower chance of recurrence than women who took the drug for 2 years, according to a study published this month in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In the study, 3,449 patients age 50-81 years with operable breast cancer who had been taking tamoxifen for 2 years were randomly assigned to either stop or continue taking it for 3 more years.  After an average of 10 years of follow-up, 40% of the women who took tamoxifen for 5 years had recurrences, compared with 46% of those who took the drug for 2 years.  Additionally, the study reports a 35% reduction in cardiovascular (CV) events as well as a 59% reduction in death as a results of a CV event in women ages 50-59 who took tamoxifen for the full 5 years compared to 2 years.