Endometrial cancers in postmenopausal breast cancer patients with tamoxifen treatment

Int J Gynecol Pathol. 1999 Oct;18(4):304-9. doi: 10.1097/00004347-199910000-00003.

Abstract

To evaluate possible predicting factors for endometrial cancer in postmenopausal breast cancer patients with tamoxifen treatment, we compared various clinical features between 12 postmenopausal breast cancer tamoxifen-treated patients with endometrial cancer and a control group of 261 otherwise similar patients without this endometrial pathology. These comparisons were based on a long-term prospective follow-up. Several clinical factors such as longer duration of breast disease, older patient age, lower frequency of chemotherapy administration, and higher frequency of postmenopausal bleeding were found among the tamoxifen-treated patients with endometrial cancers, and were significantly different when compared to the control group. Only eight (66.7%) had postmenopausal bleeding, and a preoperative diagnosis of endometrial cancer was made in only six (50.0%). When considering postmenopausal bleeding as a marker for endometrial cancer in the study patients, sensitivity was 67% and specificity was 98%.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adenosarcoma / diagnosis
  • Adenosarcoma / epidemiology
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Carcinoma / diagnosis
  • Carcinoma / epidemiology
  • Demography
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / epidemiology
  • Endometrium / pathology
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasms, Second Primary / diagnosis*
  • Neoplasms, Second Primary / epidemiology
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Prospective Studies
  • Risk Factors
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Tamoxifen / therapeutic use*
  • Time Factors
  • Uterine Hemorrhage / diagnosis

Substances

  • Tamoxifen