[ PRINT ] [ Printing FAQ ] About OncoLink Editorial Board Sponsors Help See Today's OncoTip Usage Statistics Virtual Classroom Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute "Confronting Cancer Through Art" is an exhibition by people whose lives have been touched by cancer. This week we are featuring artwork by: Jacqueline Kniewasser Pontypool, Ontario Visit the Children's Art Gallery This week's artwork was donated by a pediatric cancer patient who received treatment for cancer at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

OncoLink FAQ: Tamoxifen Therapy for Estrogen Receptor Negative Breast Cancer Last Revision Date: Sunday, 14-Feb-1999 13:54:29 EST Copyright © 1994-1999, The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania This is a response to a question about the benefits of tamoxifen therapy for estrogen receptor negative breast cancer. Question: Dear OncoLink, I am a medical student with a parent who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer. I understand that tamoxifen is used for breast cancers and is highly effective in preventing recurrence. However, what is the situation when a breast cancer is weakly estrogen receptor positive? What is the action of a hormonal medication when a cancer is not receptive to the hormone? After much debate about the need for chemotherapy (only one lymph node of sixteen, was affected, with no evidence of spread) followed by the burns from radiation therapy, it is hard to encourage my mother to take tamoxifen. Are there any studies of the efficacy of an estrogen sensitive drug on an estrogen receptor negative cancer? Could you point us in the right direction, so we may be informed when we next sp