I am no expert on but questions I would look at are;
1. The risk of Tamoxifen causing growth (see below - and I have seen it suggested elsewhere)
2. The side effects of the two. I have posted some links on the menstural cycle post and try looking at Breastcancer.org who have an informative section comparing the side effect of the two. There are big differences in side effects, among others risks of secondary cancers for tamoxifen and bone degredation with arimidex.
3. Generally arimidex is only perscribed to post menopausal which presents another set of issues for those who are premenopausal. For fertile women the issues are life changing and very complex.
4. Out come statistics I have seen seem to suggest arimidex has better (significantly) outcomes statisticaly that tamoxifen.
5. Your fertility views.
6. Your menopause views.
7. Your risk factors.
8. Insurance and cost aspects factors (arimidex from memory is a lot more expensive)
The more one reads the more complex it all is. As somebody who was a total beginner at the begining of the year I can only recommend you read and read and read. Regretably you are not going to find the answers neatly writen out all in one place. Change is happening so fast, opinons vary, regiems in countries and hospitals vary, the level of knowledge in practicioners varies depending on specialism..... An echo of a song comes to mind "it was all so simple then.. but time has rewritten every line".....the cancer learning process is a bit like that.
If you have not had a chance to skin through my lengthy links on the menstal cycle post please do they are thought provoking, and represent a few saved out of very many searches. The first three deal with treatment impact issues on your age group.
As always I am strictly amatuer, all I can do is provoke possible directions of exploration and provide a few links, and wonder why the health profession does not try / manage to provide easier access to guidance on these fundamantal issues.
The information you are seeking does not come in neat packages. I wish it was all so clear cut and effective that it did.
If this seems a bit sharp please excuse me I do not mean to be, the emotional toll of the decisions you are making is unimaginable for me, and I feel indignation for you that the answers are not there, but from all my reading there is no easy way but to spend the time to read it all up if you are the sort of person who needs to understand and know.
RB
http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?I...&date=20050901
Breast cancer drug "can stimulate tumour growth"
Published: 1st September 2005 10:26 CET
A drug prescribed to more than half of all patients suffering from breast cancer can in some cases actually stimulate tumour growth and increase the likelihood of a relapse, Swedish researchers said on Thursday.
The drug, tamoxifen, has since the 1970s been widely prescribed to fight breast cancer since it has shown to counteract the cancer-promoting effects of estrogen in the breast by binding itself to the estrogen receptor in the cancerous cell, thus impeding tumour growth.
According to new research conducted at the Malmö University Hospital, UMAS, in southern Sweden however, the drug can have the opposite effect on certain types of tumours.
"The result shows that tamoxifen is a very efficient treatment for most patients. But for 15 percent of tumours that contain many copies of the cell-splitting gene cyclin D1 tamoxifen however appears to have the opposite effect," researcher Karin Jirström said in a statement.
The study conducted by Jirström and her colleagues was based on examinations of patients from southern Sweden who had been treated with the drug. It was recently published in the US medical journal Cancer Researcher.
"It is important not to draw the conclusion of this study too far ... But this is the first time that patients have been identified on whom the treatment has had the opposite effect," researcher Göran Landberg said in the statement.
"Our findings in Malmö should immediately be tested in other studies to avoid negative effects of this otherwise very effective drug tamoxifen," he added.
AFP
Hybrid Mode
