Anti-estrogen Therapies Have Been Found to Reduce Melanoma Risk

Early this past week researchers from Switzerland and France at the University of Geneva released results from a study that showed women with breast cancer undergoing anti-estrogen therapy may have a lower risk for melanoma. Christine Bouchardy, M.D., Ph.D., professor at the University of Geneva and the head of the Geneva Cancer Registry, and colleagues gathered information on 7,360 women diagnosed with breast cancer from 1980-2005. During the study 54 percent of the patients received anti-estrogen therapy. During the follow-up in 2008 there was a recorded 34 melanoma cases. The results, published in Cancer Prevention Research, found that “the risk for melanoma was 60 percent higher among patients who did not receive anit-estrogen therapy”, compared with those that did.

What did Christine Bouchardy have to say about the results?:

“This study suggests that anti-estrogen therapy modifies the risk of melanoma after breast cancer.”
“Although our results are in agreement with the hypothesis that estrogens could play a role in melanoma occurrence, these results need to be replicated in other studies, particularly given the numerous side effects linked to this kind of drug.”

Cancer researchers are aware of the important role that estrogen plays when it comes to breast cancer, but there is still more to learn about the effects of estrogen on other cancers. The researchers believe that the research backs up their hypothesis, but warn the public against the wide-spread use of anti-estrogen treatments to treat melanoma. The side effects haven’t outweighed the benefit even though those treatments are commonly used to treat breast cancer.

What are the anti-estrogen therapy side-effects?

Joint pain and increased symptoms of rheumatic disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
Pain in general can be experienced since normal estrogen levels help women regulate pain.
Hot flashes can occur because the lack of estrogen modifies the functioning of the hypothalamus which is like the control center for the body; regulating body temperature, appetite and sleeping patterns.
Mental impairments such as verbal memory and planning skills were found to be affected with the treatment of an estrogen blocker called tamoxifen.
Depression could occur (particularly with the use of tamoxifen) and it has been found that the drug interaction between the estrogen blocker and anti-depression medication is not safe.
Osteoporosis can occur in long-term use of anti-estrogen treatments because “normally, estrogen in the body prevents calcium from leaking out of bone tissue, and therefore helps keep the bone strong.”