IT MAY be possible to predict which women are at greatest risk of endometrial
cancer when taking tamoxifen for breast cancer.
Shinya Shibutani and his colleagues at the State University of New York have
developed a highly sensitive test for detecting chemical lesions called adducts
that can appear in the DNA of endometrial tissue when it reacts with tamoxifen
(Chemical Research in Toxicology, vol 12, p 646). 鈥淭he adducts can lead
to mutations that cause cancer,鈥� he says.
Out of 13 women on the drug, 6 developed lesions, whereas none was detected
in untreated women. But according to Shibutani, the newer breast cancer drugs
raloxifene and toremifene, which are modified versions of tamoxifen, are
unlikely to react with DNA.
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