What is Tamoxifen used for?

Tamoxifen has been found to exhibit multiple pharmological actions. The major interest surrounding Tamoxifen has been it's effect on cancerous breast tissue and hence this has has been the focal area for research. However Tamoxifen has been reported to have beneficial effects on numerous other ailments these include protection against both cardiovascular and osteoporosis diseases. My discussion of Tamoxifen is mostly concerned with it's cancer activity.

The usual treatment administered for many different types of cancer has been that of chemotherapy. Alternative treatments have also been investigated this has lead to the advancement of many drug facillitated alternatives. Various hormone effecting drugs have been considered as viable alternatives to chemotherapy. Alternative were sought due to the nature of chemotherapy. Although chemotherapy has been an excellent treatment in the fight against cancer. The side effects which are witnessed are often devastating to the patients. The indiscrimenent nature of this technique lead to many normal healthy cells being damaged. This causes symptoms such as tiredness and in most cases loss of hair. The last of these symptoms can be considered one of the hardest for females to come to terms with (according to the views of many patients).This can lead to reduced confidence and other psychological effects on patients. Hence the arrival of Tamoxifen was considered as a large improvement to treatment procedures. It provided a treatment which had an almost identical success rate to chemotherapy but without the harsh side effects. From this point of view there was much interest in the development of Tamoxifen.

Previous Page.

Next Page.