Two years of tamoxifen offers long-term survival benefit

(HealthDay)—For premenopausal women with breast cancer, two years of tamoxifen is associated with long-term survival benefit, according to a study published online May 9 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Maria Ekholm, M.D., from Lund University in Sweden, and colleagues randomized premenopausal patients with breast cancer to two years of tamoxifen (276 patients) or no systemic treatment (288 patients). The patients were followed for a median of 26.3 years for end points of cumulative mortality (CM) and cumulative breast cancer-related mortality (CBCM).

The researchers found that tamoxifen was associated with a marginal reduction in CM (hazard ratio, 0.77; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.58 to 1.03) and a significant reduction in CBCM (hazard ratio, 0.73; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.53 to 0.99) in patients with estrogen receptor-positive tumors. The effect varied over time for CM (hazard ratios: years 0 to 5, 1.05 [95 percent CI, 0.64 to 1.73]; >5 to 15, 0.58 [95 percent CI, 0.37 to 0.91]; and >15 years, 0.82 [95 percent CI, 0.48 to 1.42]) and for CBCM (hazard ratios: years 0 to 5, 1.09 [95 percent CI, 0.65 to 1.82]; >5 to 15, 0.53 [95 percent CI, 0.33 to 0.86]; and >15 years, 0.72 [95 percent CI, 0.36 to 1.44]).

"Two years of adjuvant tamoxifen resulted in a long-term survival benefit in premenopausal patients with estrogen receptor-positive primary breast cancer," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Copyright © 2016 HealthDay. All rights reserved.