Tamoxifen Might Aid Lung Cancer Survival

A breast cancer drug might also reduce the risk of dying from lung cancer, a small study suggests. Researchers looked at records for 6,655 women with breast cancer. Just under half of them took the drug tamoxifen. This drug blocks the effects of the hormone estrogen. It fights breast tumors that grow in response to estrogen. Of the total group of women, 40 also developed lung cancer. Those who took tamoxifen were 87% less likely to die of lung cancer than those who did not take it. Because of the study’s design and small size, researchers could not say if tamoxifen caused the lower death rate. The journal Cancer published the study online. HealthDay News and Reuters Health news service wrote about the research January 24.