Scientists find a way to improve the effectiveness of breast cancer treatment among younger women

The results of a German study showed that researchers seem to have found a way to improve the effectiveness of the drug “tamoxifen” used to treat breast cancer in younger women who do not respond well to this traditional treatment. Tamoxifen works by preventing estrogen from binding to proteins on the surfaces of cancer cells, which prevents the cancer from growing. For the drug to be effective, tamoxifen must be converted by the CYP2D6 enzyme into a form called z-endoxifen, but about a third of patients have low levels of this enzyme, and as a result the conversion process is impaired. Postmenopausal women can use alternative medicines known as aromatase inhibitors, but this is not an option for younger patients. Researchers in the journal Clinical Cancer Research said that giving supplemental Z-endoxifen compensates for the poor conversion process of the drug tamoxifen and makes it more effective. “Drug Efficacy” During this study, 235 patients in the early stages of breast cancer received either the drug “Tamoxifen” alone or together with (Z-Endoxifen), based on how efficiently “Tamoxifen” is converted in their bodies. The results showed that the drug concentrations in the blood of the patients who received the combination treatment were similar to those found in the women who received “tamoxifen” alone. According to the report, side effects were mild and similar in both groups. “With this approach, we offer the first effective solution to a long-standing problem: the insufficient effect of tamoxifen in a large proportion of patients,” study team leader Matthias Schwab, from the Margaret Fischer-Bosch Institute for Clinical Pharmacology in Stuttgart, said in a statement.