What is Tamoxifen?

Category: Prescription Drugs

Most popular types: Tamoxol Nolvadex Istubal Show all

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Tamoxifen is an oral selective estrogen receptor modulator which is used in breast cancer treatment, and is currently the world's largest selling breast cancer treatment. It is used for the treatment of early and advanced breast cancer. It is undergoing trials in ALS/MND under Prof Ben Brooks.

Reported purpose & perceived effectiveness
Purpose Patients Evaluations Perceived Effectiveness
Breast cancer 134 44
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 16 7
Atypical hyperplasia of breast 4 4
Familial adenomatous polyposis 3 0
Gynecomastia 2 1

Show all 11 reasons taken


  • Major
  • Moderate
  • Slight
  • None
  • Can't tell

Side effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Side effects as an overall problem
Severity Evaluations Percentage
Severe 21
Moderate 18
Mild 15
None 13

Commonly reported side effects and conditions associated with Tamoxifen

Side effect Patients Percentage
Hot flashes 12
Fatigue 7
Weight gain 6
Night sweats 5
Bone pain 3
Nausea 3

Show all 61 reported side effects

Why patients stopped taking Tamoxifen

Multiple reasons could be selected

Reason Patients Percentage
Doctor's advice 13
Course of treatment ended 11
Side effects too severe 11
Did not seem to work 7
Other 7
Personal research 1
See all 43 patients who've stopped taking Tamoxifen

Duration

Stopped taking Tamoxifen

Duration Patients Percentage
Less than 1 month 7
1 - 6 months 12
6 months - 1 year 5
1 - 2 years 4
2 - 5 years 14
5 - 10 years 1
Adherence
Adherence Evaluations Percentage
Always 60
Usually 4
Sometimes 0
Never taken as prescribed 3
Burden
Burden Evaluations Percentage
Very hard to take 5
Somewhat hard to take 11
A little hard to take 13
Not at all hard to take 38
Cost per month
Cost per month Evaluations Percentage
$200+ 1
$100-199 0
$50-99 2
$25-49 2
< $25 33
Not specified 29

What people switch to and from

Patients started taking Tamoxifen after stopping:

Treatment Patients Percentage
Chemotherapy 5
Anastrozole (Arimidex) 2
Paclitaxel (Taxol) 1

Patients stopped taking Tamoxifen and switched to:

Treatment Patients Percentage
Anastrozole (Arimidex) 9
Exemestane (Aromasin) 4
Letrozole (Femara) 4
Capecitabine (Xeloda) 1
Carboplatin 1

Show all 9 treatments patients report switching to

Last updated:

2 patient evaluations for Tamoxifen

May 31, 2012 (Started Feb 29, 2012)

  • Effectiveness
    Major (for breast cancer)
  • Side effects
    Severe (reactivated uterine fibroids and they started necrotizing, necrotizing uterine fibroids)
  • Adherence
    Always
  • Burden
    Not at all hard to take
Dosage: 10 mg/5 mL Daily
Cost: < $25 monthly

  • 0 helpful marks

Apr 10, 2011 (Started Jan 01, 2010)

  • Effectiveness
    Slight (for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
  • Side effects
    None
  • Adherence
    Never taken as prescribed
  • Burden
    A little hard to take
Dosage: 10 mg/5 mL Daily
Cost: $50-99 monthly

  • 0 helpful marks
Last updated:
Showing 2 of 2 patient evaluations for Tamoxifen