Abstract
Background and Objectives: There are inconsistent results about the association between ischemic cerebrovascular disease and tamoxifen use in women with breast cancer. The study aimed to evaluate the association between the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular disease and tamoxifen use in older women with breast cancer in Taiwan.Methods: We designed a retrospective, nationwide, case-control study using the database of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program. A total of 800 female subjects with breast cancer aged ≥65 years with the first episode of ischemic cerebrovascular disease from 2000 to 2011 were identified as the cases. Additionally, 2,876 female subjects with breast cancer aged ≥65 years without any type of cerebrovascular diseases were selected as the control subjects. The cases and the control subjects were matched with age and comorbidities. Ever use of tamoxifen was defined as a subject who had at least a prescription for tamoxifen before the index date. Never use of tamoxifen was defined as a subject who never had a prescription for tamoxifen before the index date. We used the multivariable logistic regression model to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for ischemic cerebrovascular disease associated with tamoxifen use.Results: After adjusting for confounding variables, the adjusted OR of ischemic cerebrovascular disease was 2.5 for subjects with ever use of tamoxifen (95% CI 2.10, 2.97), compared with never use of tamoxifen. In addition, the adjusted OR of ischemic cerebrovascular disease was 1.15 (95% CI 1.10, 1.21) in subjects with ever use of tamoxifen as increase in use duration per 1 year. The adjusted OR of ischemic cerebrovascular disease was 2.54 (95% CI 2.03, 3.17) in subjects with ever use of tamoxifen as increase in dosage per 1 mg.Conclusions: Tamoxifen use is significantly associated with 2.5-fold increased odds of ischemic cerebrovascular disease among older women with breast cancer in Taiwan. There are duration-dependent and dose-dependent effects of tamoxifen use on the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular disease.
Highlights
Tamoxifen is commonly used for prevention of breast cancer in healthy women at elevated risk and it has good preventive effects (Cuzick et al, 2013, 2015)
Tamoxifen use is associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism in women with breast cancer, (Deitcher and Gomes, 2004) but the influence of tamoxifen use on the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular disease remains unsettled
We designed a retrospective, nationwide, case-control study to evaluate the association between the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular disease and tamoxifen use in older women with breast cancer in Taiwan
Summary
Tamoxifen is commonly used for prevention of breast cancer in healthy women at elevated risk and it has good preventive effects (Cuzick et al, 2013, 2015). Epidemiological studies showed inconsistent results about tamoxifen use on the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular disease, including reduced risk, (Yang et al, 2014) increased risk, (Bushnell and Goldstein, 2004; Hooning et al, 2006) and no association (Geiger et al, 2004). Little evidence is available about the effect of tamoxifen use on the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular disease in Taiwan. We designed a retrospective, nationwide, case-control study to evaluate the association between the risk of ischemic cerebrovascular disease and tamoxifen use in older women with breast cancer in Taiwan.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
