| Title | Hepatocellular carcinoma after long-term tamoxifen therapy. | | Author(s) | Moffat DF, Oien KA, Dickson J, Habeshaw T, McLellan DR | | Institution | University Department of Pathology, Western Infirmary, Glasgow, UK. | | Source | Ann Oncol 2000 Sep; 11(9):1195-6. | | MeSH | Aged
Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal
Axilla
Breast Neoplasms
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular
Female
Humans
Liver Function Tests
Liver Neoplasms
Lymph Node Excision
Lymph Nodes
Lymphatic Metastasis
Mastectomy
Tamoxifen
Time Factors
| | Abstract | We describe a case of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after long term tamoxifen therapy in a 71-year-old woman. The patient was prescribed tamoxifen for 12 years following right mastectomy and axillary node clearance for breast carcinoma in 1985. In 1997, she complained of abdominal pain and fullness. An abdominal ultrasound scan showed lesions in the right lobe of liver which were thought to be metastases. However, a biopsy showed primary HCC. Studies in rats suggest that tamoxifen is involved in hepatic carcinogenesis but studies in humans have failed to show any increased risk. However, these studies followed up patients for less than five years. An increased risk of HCC may not become apparent until after a decade or more of tamoxifen therapy. In addition, HCC in tamoxifen treated patients may be under-reported since there may be reluctance to biopsy liver tumours which are assumed to be secondary carcinoma of the breast. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Case Reports
Journal Article
| | PubMed ID | 11061618 |
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