BMJ 1996;312:1036 (20 April)

Letters

Adjuvant treatment with tamoxifen

Side effects may have been overstated

EDITOR,--Use of clinical announcements by the National Cancer Institute to influence policy on the European side of the Atlantic1 is a dubious and previously discredited process, and this would not be the first time that such an announcement has caused distress on this side of the Atlantic. The data cited in these "alerts" are unpublished and not subjected to peer review and (from what we can glean from the limited amount of information available) are based on so few events after randomisation as to make any statistical analysis highly unreliable.

R D Bulbrook repeats the accusation made on television that tamoxifen has 40 side effects.1 We would be the last to state that tamoxifen is free of side effects, but most of these so called side effects are anecdotal or identical with those observed among patients taking placebo.2 The fact remains that compliance with . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Long term adjuvant therapy for primary breast cancer
R D Bulbrook
BMJ 1996 312: 389-390. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Ray, A., Leonard, R. C F (1996). Side effects of tamoxifen are distressing and common. BMJ 313: 1484b-1484 [Full text]  
  • Cunnigham, H. (1996). Informed consent and follow up in aTTom trial are inadequate. BMJ 313: 494-494 [Full text]  
  • Bulbrook, R D (1996). Adjuvant treatment with tamoxifen. BMJ 313: 493c-494 [Full text]  
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