What Is Tamoxifen?
Author: Melvin H.Gill

Tamoxifen is a medication in pill form that interferes with the
activity of estrogen. Tamoxifen has been used for more than 20
years to treat patients with advanced breast cancer. It is used
as adjuvant, or additional, therapy following primary treatment
for early stage breast cancer. In women at high risk of
developing breast cancer, tamoxifen reduces the chance of
developing the disease. Tamoxifen continues to be studied for
the prevention of breast cancer. It is also being studied in
the treatment of several other types of cancer. It is important
to note that tamoxifen is also used to treat men with breast
cancer.

Tamoxifen Tablets
Tamoxifen Citrate Tablets, a nonsterodial antiestrogen, are for
oral administration and contain 15.2 mg of Tamoxifen Citrate
(equivalent to 10 mg of tamoxifen). In addition, each tablet
contains as inactive ingredients: carboxymethylcellulose
calcium, magnesium stearate, mannitol and starch.

Does Tamoxifen Influence Female Hormones?
Tamoxifen blocks the female sex hormone oestrogen. The hormone
influences the growth of cells related to female reproduction,
such as those in the breast or the uterus. If there is too much
oestrogen in the system, cell growth can accelerate to the point
where tumours start to develop. Tamoxifen competes with the sex
hormone for the same proteins - called receptors - found on the
surface of cancer cells. When the drug locks onto the receptors
it blocks the way for oestrogen - which would otherwise
activate the cancer cell to divide and make the tumour grow.

FDA Regulations on Tamoxifen
On October 29, 1998, the Food and Drug Administration approved
Nolvadex (tamoxifen citrate) for reducing the incidence of
breast cancer in women at high risk for developing the disease.
This new indication for tamoxifen, which has been used as a
breast cancer treatment for more than 20 years, resulted from a
recent study of the drug, conducted by the National Cancer
Institute (NCI), in women who were judged to be at increased
risk of breast cancer. The study showed that tamoxifen reduced
the chance of getting breast cancer by 44 percent. The data
also showed that tamoxifen treatment did not completely
eliminate breast cancer risk, and that its longer term effects
are not known.


About The Author: Tamoxifen has been proven to be the cure to
Breast Cancer. We urge you to find out more about Tamoxifen at
http://Tamoxifen.eask.info