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Endometrial changes in postmenopausal women treated with tamoxifen for breast cancer
I Cohen1, D J Rosen, J Shapira
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Sapir Medical Centre, Kfar Saba, Israel.
Objective:
To evaluate whether risk factors, other than tamoxifen, can be identified for the development of endometrial pathologies in postmenopausal breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen.
Design:
A cross-sectional study.
Setting:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Oncology Clinic, Sapir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel.
Subjects:
77 asymptomatic postmenopausal women, treated with tamoxifen for breast cancer. Of these, 55 had no endometrial tissue and 22 had endometrial tissue obtained by biopsy.
Main Outcome Measures:
Demographic characteristics, health habits, risk factors, vaginal ultrasonographic evaluations of endometrial thickness and texture, and histologic evaluations of endometrial biopsies.
Results:
Overall, there was a high rate (29%) of endometrial pathological change among the 77 asymptomatic postmenopausal women. There were no significant statistical differences in the features tested between the two groups.
Conclusion:
It is impossible to predict which postmenopausal women will develop pathological endometrial changes after treatment with tamoxifen and thus a routine periodic endometrial sampling-follow up is suggested for all postmenopausal women being treated with this agent.