I found this very interesting. Thank you for passing it along.
Christine
At 08:55 PM 15/07/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Dear Friends,
>
>There's been a lot of talk about Evista as a drug that may offer
>protection against breast cancer, supposedly without the side effect of
>Tamoxifen. I had heard some negative things about this drug, but did not
>want to pass them on until I verified them. When I saw my ob/gyn today
>(who I trust greatly; he is very supportive of alternative therapies and
>very thorough, and has been monitoring my tamoxifen side effects) I
>asked him about it.
>
>He said that Lilly has been marketing the drug heavily, and that the
>claims do not match the data. He said that Evista has not been proven to
>prevent breast cancer, and unlike tamoxifen, we don't know the long
>range effects. In addition, while Tamoxifen can cause polyps which may
>be cancerous, it tends to be a low-grade, easily treated cancer. Evista
>on the other hand has the potential to cause a high-grade, far more
>serious cancer, and has also been shown to cause adenocarcinoma of the
>colon. Another concern: if you take Evista now to protect against cancer
>(remembering that we're not sure it does), if you get breast cancer
>later, and need Tamoxifen as part of your treatment, it will no longer
>be effective (Evista permanently changes the receptors). The only other
>reason to use Evista is for the protection against osteoperosis, but
>there are better medications out there with fewer serious side effect.
>
>The bottom line: he feels that this drug should not be on the market,
>and can not think of any circumstance where it would be useful. He
>refuses to prescribe it. So...one dr.'s opinion, but something to think
>about.
>
>Love and prayers, Joicy
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