Women taking breast cancer treatment should gain cheer from side-effects, researchers revealed today.
Hot flushes, night sweats and painful joints may all be a sign that cancer treatment is working, according to British researchers.
The symptoms are similar to those of the menopause and reflect the success of treatment in reducing levels of the hormone oestrogen in the body.
The conclusions, from a study of more than 9,000 women, are reported in the journal Lancet Oncology today.
The study found that women who reported the side-effects developing within three months of starting treatment with the drugs tamoxifen or anastrozole were ten per cent less likely than others to see cancer recur after the end of treatment.
Researcher Professor Jack Cuzick, of Cancer Research UK, said: "Our study found that hot flushes, night sweats and painful joints could be used to predict how effective a breast cancer patient’s hormonal treatment will be.
"Women who reported any of these symptoms within three months of starting treatment with tamoxifen or anastrozole were less likely to have a recurrence of breast cancer, compared to women who did not experience them."
He added: "The treatment is designed to starve potential cancers of oestrogen and these symptoms mean that there are lower levels of oestrogen in the body. But it is too early to say whether having these symptoms is essential for the treatment to be effective."
Lancet Oncology on-line October 30 2008
Leave a Reply