Tamoxifen VS Arimidex

joyyee1
joyyee1 Member Posts: 31
in Breast Cancer #1
What is the difference between these 5 year drugs??

Comments

  • cahjah75
    cahjah75 Member Posts: 2,631
    #2
    joyyee1
    Tamoxifen is given to women who have not gone through natural menopause yet. I am 12 post menopausal so I take Arimidex. Each drug is to reduce the risk of getting cancer again. My risk was still higher than I was willing to accept.
    Char
  • missrenee
    missrenee Member Posts: 2,136 Member
    #3
    cahjah75 said:

    joyyee1
    Tamoxifen is given to women who have not gone through natural menopause yet. I am 12 post menopausal so I take Arimidex. Each drug is to reduce the risk of getting cancer again. My risk was still higher than I was willing to accept.
    Char

    Yup, Char is right
    Those drugs are used for estrogen positive tumors--while the estrogen is never completely gone (cuz we're girls) the drugs remove as much as possible to inhibit growth of any new tumors.

    Hugs, Renee
  • cahjah75
    cahjah75 Member Posts: 2,631
    #4
    missrenee said:

    Yup, Char is right
    Those drugs are used for estrogen positive tumors--while the estrogen is never completely gone (cuz we're girls) the drugs remove as much as possible to inhibit growth of any new tumors.

    Hugs, Renee

    Unfortunately for me
    being overweight/obese makes matters worse because fat cells create estrogen.
    Char
  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    #5
    Don't know
    I'm on Femara
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #6
    Arimidex is for
    Arimidex is for postmenopausal women because it works by preventing the conversion of steroids made by the adrenal gland into estrogen. Premenopausal women still have their ovaries producing estrogen, so Arimidex doesn't work for them. Tamoxifen also stops most of the estrogen being made, but in a different way than Arimidex. xoxoxox Lynn
  • butterflylvr
    butterflylvr Member Posts: 944
    #7
    lynn1950 said:

    Arimidex is for
    Arimidex is for postmenopausal women because it works by preventing the conversion of steroids made by the adrenal gland into estrogen. Premenopausal women still have their ovaries producing estrogen, so Arimidex doesn't work for them. Tamoxifen also stops most of the estrogen being made, but in a different way than Arimidex. xoxoxox Lynn

    I will be starting hormone
    I will be starting hormone therapy in a couple of months following my rads. I have a question for you ladies. Since I am 49 years old and chemo pushed me into menopause (no cycle since November), which drug do you think my oncologist will put me on?

    Lorrie
  • rosamercedes
    rosamercedes Member Posts: 7
    #8
    butterflylvr said:

    I will be starting hormone
    I will be starting hormone therapy in a couple of months following my rads. I have a question for you ladies. Since I am 49 years old and chemo pushed me into menopause (no cycle since November), which drug do you think my oncologist will put me on?

    Lorrie

    Hormone therapy
    The doctor will do a blood test to see what drug to use that is what he did in my case I am on arimidex, just started on April 20, starting to feel the side effects not too bad so far,
    just some stiffness, but I have to start Radiation next week.
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #9
    butterflylvr said:

    I will be starting hormone
    I will be starting hormone therapy in a couple of months following my rads. I have a question for you ladies. Since I am 49 years old and chemo pushed me into menopause (no cycle since November), which drug do you think my oncologist will put me on?

    Lorrie

    Risk
    The aromatase inhibitors like arimidex are twice as effective at reducing breast cancer risk as tamoxifen, which reduces risk in half compared to doing nothing. That means that if you have a 50 percent chance of getting breast cancer again, tamoxifen reduces your risk to 25%. Arimidex would cut that in half and reduce the risk to a 12% chance. As others have said, you can only go on the arimidex if you are post menapausal. Many studies have had women on Tamoxifen for 3 years and then Arimidex or a like aromatase inhibitor for 5. That has been shown to be effective. Lately the research shows that it may be even better to go on the aromatase inhibitors initially since they are most effective. The research is still coming out.

    Tamoxifen works by plugging the estrogen receptors on estrogen driven breast cancer. It is a very weak estrogen like substance. Arimidex reduces your body's estrogen level but can't reduce what the ovaries put out so you have to be post menapausal.
  • VickiSam
    VickiSam Member Posts: 9,079 Member
    #10
    cabbott said:

    Risk
    The aromatase inhibitors like arimidex are twice as effective at reducing breast cancer risk as tamoxifen, which reduces risk in half compared to doing nothing. That means that if you have a 50 percent chance of getting breast cancer again, tamoxifen reduces your risk to 25%. Arimidex would cut that in half and reduce the risk to a 12% chance. As others have said, you can only go on the arimidex if you are post menapausal. Many studies have had women on Tamoxifen for 3 years and then Arimidex or a like aromatase inhibitor for 5. That has been shown to be effective. Lately the research shows that it may be even better to go on the aromatase inhibitors initially since they are most effective. The research is still coming out.

    Tamoxifen works by plugging the estrogen receptors on estrogen driven breast cancer. It is a very weak estrogen like substance. Arimidex reduces your body's estrogen level but can't reduce what the ovaries put out so you have to be post menapausal.

    bumping up ...
    Vicki
  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
    #11
    butterflylvr said:

    I will be starting hormone
    I will be starting hormone therapy in a couple of months following my rads. I have a question for you ladies. Since I am 49 years old and chemo pushed me into menopause (no cycle since November), which drug do you think my oncologist will put me on?

    Lorrie

    Lorrie...
    I was 45 when DX'd & pre-menopausal, too. (Not even peri-menopausal.) Chemo induced menopause. For me - after all invasive treatments (surgery/chemo/rads) was completed, I took Tamoxifen for 2 years. Then, my med onc switched me to Arimidex. At that time (several years ago), this "combination therapy" was relatively new based on definitive clinical trial results.

    Your own med onc doctor will determine and recommend what will be most effective you.

    Kind regards, Susan
  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
    #12
    In simple terms...
    All the anti-BC oral meds work differently. My own experience has been/is still with both Tamoxifen and Arimidex. Am not well versed in Femara, etc. ... Here's the way it was explained to me:

    Tamoxifen is a "blocker" - provides a "barrier" between estrogen and cancer cells.

    Arimidex is an "inhibitor" - suppresses (most of) the body from producing estrogen. However, both Renee and Char are correct. Females have one extra fat layer (are we surprised?) versus males. Perhaps because we carry babies - that extra layer provides protection for both mother and developing child. It produces "trace" amounts of estrogen for our entire lives. Currently, there is no medical/scientific method available to prevent it.

    Kind regards, Susan
  • ninadr
    ninadr Member Posts: 1
    #13
    Christmas Girl said:

    In simple terms...
    All the anti-BC oral meds work differently. My own experience has been/is still with both Tamoxifen and Arimidex. Am not well versed in Femara, etc. ... Here's the way it was explained to me:

    Tamoxifen is a "blocker" - provides a "barrier" between estrogen and cancer cells.

    Arimidex is an "inhibitor" - suppresses (most of) the body from producing estrogen. However, both Renee and Char are correct. Females have one extra fat layer (are we surprised?) versus males. Perhaps because we carry babies - that extra layer provides protection for both mother and developing child. It produces "trace" amounts of estrogen for our entire lives. Currently, there is no medical/scientific method available to prevent it.

    Kind regards, Susan

    T vs A and menopause
    I just wanted to add to Susan's post... it is impossible to tell if you are in menopause or not. I have not gotten a period in 2 years but my oncologist (to my dismay) is putting me on tamoxifen. He says that unless I haven't had a period in 5 years, he still considers me post menopausal. Any hormone tests are not accurate because you can be producing trace amounts of estrogen for many years - the day you get tested it could show zero. And it's important because even trace amounts can get into the cancer cells and grow them. The only option... which for me is a good one... is getting my ovaries out (or a full hysterectomy). Then they will put me on Arimidex.

    Good luck to you all.

    Nina
  • csr771
    csr771 Member Posts: 117
    #14
    ninadr said:

    T vs A and menopause
    I just wanted to add to Susan's post... it is impossible to tell if you are in menopause or not. I have not gotten a period in 2 years but my oncologist (to my dismay) is putting me on tamoxifen. He says that unless I haven't had a period in 5 years, he still considers me post menopausal. Any hormone tests are not accurate because you can be producing trace amounts of estrogen for many years - the day you get tested it could show zero. And it's important because even trace amounts can get into the cancer cells and grow them. The only option... which for me is a good one... is getting my ovaries out (or a full hysterectomy). Then they will put me on Arimidex.

    Good luck to you all.

    Nina

    Tamoxifen and Arimidex
    I was first put on Arimidex as I am post menopausal. However, I had to change to tamoxifen as I could not tolerate the side effects of the Arimidex. As others have said Arimidex is prescribed for women who have gone through menopause. Some cancers depend on esrogen to grow, Arimidex stops tumor growth by blocking estrogen production. Taxmoifen blocks the effects of estrogen. It is commonly used to treat breast cancer. It is also used to decrease the chance of breast cancer coming back in women who have received treatment for cancer. It may also help prevent BC in women who have a high risk of developing BC.

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