Tamoxifen and my sister

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nancylovescats
nancylovescats Member Posts: 1
edited June 2014 in Caring for Someone with Breast cancer
I do not live close to my sister but her oncologist is saying she may need tamoxifen for five years, why? She has been diagnosed but has started no treatment yet. She has heart problems so I think that may be stalling things a bit. When I ask her questions she does not have any answers as why they want to do this. Is this something given after surgery/chemo/radiation?

Thanking you in advance for your help.

Nancy
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  • jgrjunque
    jgrjunque Member Posts: 47
    edited August 2006
    Hi, Nancy! Tamoxifen is a hormonal drug that's used to stop the estrogen in your sister's system from triggering any more nasty little cancer cells that may be floating around with ambitions above their station. It's a very effective preventive against recurrence. It's given after surgery and the adjuvent treatments like chemo and radiation. In very early breast cancer it may even be given instead of chemo and radiation.

    Hope this helps. Good luck to you and your sister.
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