After surgery, women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer usually take hormonal therapy medicine to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back (recurrence).
Types of Hormonal Therapy
Tamoxifen
a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM)is used to treat both premenopausal and postmenopausal women.
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may cause hot flashes
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may increase the risk of endometrial cancer
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may increase the risk of blood clots and stroke.
The aromatase inhibitors:
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more effective at reducing recurrence risk in postmenopausal women and are now used more often than tamoxifen to treat women who’ve gone through menopause.
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not known to increase the risk of fatal heart attacks or strokes,
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may trigger less serious heart side effects such as palpitation, arrhythmia , valve problems or pericarditis (inflammation of the heart surroundings, causing pain)
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may cause muscle and joint aches and pains.
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may trigger osteoporosis, and broken bones.
How can we avoid cardiac side effects ?
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Cardio Oncology discipline emerged to allow full cancer treatment without interruptions while taking precautions to avoid side effects
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Individual evaluation by cardiology prior to starting cancer therapy will determine which treatment is right for you , avoiding cardiac side effects.
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If minor cardiac side effects occur , we can treat them temporarily while you are on cancer therapy .
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Your treatment plan isn’t written in stone. If another treatment has greater benefits and/or fewer side effects, you can always switch medications .
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Cardiac adverse reactions are most of the time reversible if recognized early .