Tamoxifen

LoverofJesus

Hello everyone! I begin Tamoxifen on the 12th.

I have a couple of questions

1. What side effects did you or do you have?

2. I heard that Tamoxifen is not as effective for Lobular. I don’t want cancer to come back because Tamoxifen is a “protocol”. If something else is better. I want to know what some of you with ILC know about this and what maybe your oncologists say.

Thank you all for words of advice too on not gaining weight on it too.

BCat40

It's true that tamoxifen has not been shown to be as effective for ILC. For a stage IIIB diagnosis of ILC, they should really have you on an aromatase inhibitor. Are you pre- or post-menopausal? If you're pre-menopausal you will also need to be on ovarian suppression to take an AI. I recommend getting a second opinion from an MO who has significant experience with ILC.

BCat40

Also wanted to share this study someone posted about in the ILC forum. They're finding that because ILC cells behave differently than IDC cells, SERMs such as Tamoxifen may not be a good choice.

Seeking a unique treatment for lobular breast cancer (medicalxpress.com)