International group evaluates tamoxifen risks for women

The drug tamoxifen reduces the risk of contralateral breast cancers, but it also increases the risk of endometrial cancer, according to the findings of an international scientific working group. But the group concludes that no woman being treated for breast cancer should have her treatment stopped on the basis of these conclusions.

The working group, comprising 17 scientists from a total of eight countries, met at the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer last month to review the evidence on the potential carcinogenicity of …