J Korean Breast Cancer Soc.  2003 Sep;6(3):196-200. 10.4048/jkbcs.2003.6.3.196.

Two Cases of Endometrial Carcinoma in Tamoxifen-treated Breast Cancer Patients in Korea

• Park WC
• Lee DH
• Choi SH
• Kim JS
• Oh SJ
• Jung SS
• Lee JH
• Kim IC

• KMID: 2006636
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4048/jkbcs.2003.6.3.196

Abstract

Tamoxifen, the representative of selective estrogen receptor modulaor (SERM), has been widely used not only for the treatment of breast cancer, but also for the prevention of the disease. It is well known that some serious side-effects can infrequently occur with long-term use of tamoxifen and endometrial cancer is one of that disasters. According to NSABP B-14 data, the incidence of endometrial cancer among tamoxifen users was 0.16% and the relative risk was increased by 7.2 fold. In Korea, tamoxifen has been also used as primary endocrine therapy for the treatment of many patients with breast cancer. However, there was no formal report about the endometrial carcinoma occurred subsequently after tamoxifen administration so far. Recently, we experienced two cases of endometrial carcinoma occurred after tamoxifen treatment in breast cancer patients in Korea, and report these cases for reminding breast physicians or patients not to ignore this rare, but serious side effect of tamoxifen.

Keyword

Tamxoifen; Endometrial carcinoma

MeSH Terms

Breast Neoplasms*
Breast*
Disasters
Endometrial Neoplasms*
Estrogens
Female
Humans
Incidence
Korea*
Tamoxifen
Estrogens
Tamoxifen