Regarding bluebutterfly2222's response advising use of tamoxifen

[healthnut70333]

I just saw a film Cut Poison Burn that pretty much said what the lady's dr in Puerto Rico advised: not only does the use of tamoxifen double the patient's chances of uterine cancer but taking it more than five years also increases the chances of breast cancer.

Why would you advise a lady who does not have cancer to take a drug that causes cancer?

[Emily_MHManager]

Hi everyone -

This thread is closed.  This is not the appropriate forum for this discussion.  Without question, Tamoxifen has side effects - every single medication does, even aspirin - but the decision to use traditional therapies vs alternative or more holistic therapies, or a mix of them, rests with a woman and her doctor.  

We have an Alternative Therapy forum if you'd like to discuss it more - http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Alternative-Therapies-/show/685

Emily

                 **********  CLOSED THREAD  **********
                         NO MORE POSTS, PLEASE

[healthnut70333]

And furthermore, if medical practitioners started concentrating on good nutrition and diet, and a healthy lifestyle, then less people would be getting these degenerative diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, and there would be no need for these expensive drug that cure one problem and at the same time cause another.  This is the real crux of the matter.  Tamoxifen is only representative of a much larger issue.

Read, The China Study, by Cornell professor and research scientist T.Colin Campbell, perhaps the world's foremost expert on diet and health, if you haven't already.

[zouzi]

If you are a believer on what Natural Health and Longevity Resource Center say,then it's your choice.
But I firmly stand by "bluebutterfly2222" on everything she has said...because first of all, the benefit of Tamoxifen has been PROVEN by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
Second,Tamoxifen is also approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention of breast cancer and for the treatment of breast cancer, as well as other types of cancer.
The benefits of tamoxifen as a treatment for breast cancer are firmly established and far outweigh the risks.
I agree with you bluebutterfly2222 on one more thing "I'm done too" and
thank you for the time you took to give us this excellent information. :)

[bluebutterfly2222]

Since the information you cited is from 14 years ago, and was written by a psychotherapist promoting her book, I think I'll continue to rely on more current (2011) research-based information and  the recommendations of
the American Society of Clincial Oncology.

I have spent a considerable amout of time trying to give a full and polite response  to your questions, but now I'm done.

If you wish to debate the issue further, please address it to the medical professionals in the BC Expert Forum, as I suggested above.

[healthnut70333]

http://www.all-natural.com/tamox.html

Check this out.  See if you still stand by what you said.

[bluebutterfly2222]

p.s. Another forum member has kindly provided me with a link to the old thread in question:  

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Breast-Cancer/UNDECIDED/show/1594660#post_7256885

Upon review, I note that I did not advise the questioner to take Tamoxifen. I provided her with information about its documented value, and suggested she consult the doctors who recommended that course of treatment for her if she had questions or doubts:  

"Since the surgeon/Cancer Center in Philadelphia recommended it for you, apparently it was felt that you would benefit from it. If you have any doubts about this, you should get back in touch with them.

Although tamoxifen, like all drugs, can cause side effects, most oncologists believe its benefit outweighs the risk, unless there is something in your personal medical hx that makes it contra-indicated."

Regards,
bb

[bluebutterfly2222]

Since I have done more that 1,700 posts on MH, I don't recall exactly which thread you are referring to.

However, if asked again today about the importance of accepting treatment with Tamoxifen or an AI, I would point out the established value of such treatments, despite the fact that each one (like most medications), carries certain side effect and risks. I would also inform the questioner that such  treatments are recommended by  experts in the field, The American Society of Clinical Oncology.

A recently released study reiterated the considerable benefit of such treatment:

"Five years of tamoxifen treatment -- with or without chemotherapy -- cuts a woman's 15-year risk of breast cancer death by about a third.
The reassuring finding comes from analysis of long-term data on 21,457 women with breast cancer enrolled in clinical trials of tamoxifen.

'Substantially reduced mortality rates for breast cancer continue well beyond year 10, as a delayed effect of the greatly reduced [breast cancer] recurrence rates during years 0 to 9 [after about five years of tamoxifen therapy],' report Christina Davies, MD, and colleagues in the international Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG)."

Moreover, the  guidelines of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) include the following recommendations:

"To lengthen disease-free survival and lower risk for recurrence (i.e., locoregional or distant recurrence or contralateral breast cancer), postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer should consider an AI, either as primary adjuvant therapy for 5 years or sequentially after 2 to 3 years of tamoxifen to yield a total of 5 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy. Women who discontinue initial AI therapy before 5 years should consider using tamoxifen to bring the total duration of adjuvant therapy to 5 years.

Women who have completed 5 years of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy can benefit from switching to an AI. This extended therapy should not exceed 5 additional years.

ASCO does not recommend using specific markers to choose optimal adjuvant therapy.

Because of drug interactions, caution is recommended when tamoxifen and CYP2D6 inhibitors (e.g., paroxetine, fluoxetine, bupropion) are used concomitantly.

When advising women about adjuvant therapy, clinicians should consider the adverse effect profiles of tamoxifen (venous thromboembolism and endometrial cancer, polyps, and hyperplasia) and AIs (osteoporosis, fractures, and arthralgias). Switching from tamoxifen to an AI (or vice versa) might be appropriate if adverse effects become intolerable or precipitate nonadherence."

The final decision, of course, rests with the patient and her doctors.

If you would prefer to receive your information from medical professionals, you might consider posting in the Breast Cancer Expert Forum, which you can reach by clicking on the link below:

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Breast-Cancer/show/121

Thank you for your interest in the Breast Cancer Community Forum,
bluebutterfly