Think Pinker

According to CTV breast cancer treatments that result in side affects could actually be a good thing. Night sweats, joint pain, and hot flashes that are common with two breast cancer treatment drugs – Arimidex and Tomoxifen are actually good news because women who experience these side effects are less likely to have their breast cancer return.

A study that followed women for nine years post breast cancer saw that those who had side affects had only an 18% recurrence compared to those woman with no side effects that had a 23% recurrence.

The women who developed joint pain from these drugs had only a 14% recurrence while those with no side effects had a 23% recurrence.

In a nutshell without repeating the entire study it seems that women should open side effects from Arimidex and Tomoxifen with open arms since it appears over the long term you will have a significantly less risk or your breast cancer returning.

These drugs are used as follow up treatment after chemotherapy or radiation. They are designed to prevent breast cancer for recurring by blocking estrogen in the body. Estrogen is known to feed the growth of tumors in the breast.

There are constant studies on the go about breast cancer and even though right now it seems that these side effects are a good thing, don’t be surprised if a later study contradicts the findings of this study.

The bottom line is that whether it decreases the reoccurrence of breast cancer or not, you don’t have to worry that the side effects are bad.

Radiation, chemotherapy, and mastectomy have been the main treatment options for years now. Perhaps the future will see other treatment options, and even more hopeful is the idea that in the future there will be no breast cancer because scientists have discovered how to prevent it from occurring in the first place.