Open AccessTreatment of Premenstrual Mastalgia with Tamoxifen
Author(s) -
Messinis Ioannis E.,
Lolis Dimitrios
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
acta obstetricia et gynecologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1600-0412
pISSN - 0001-6349
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0412.1988.tb07804.x
Subject(s) - medicine , tamoxifen , placebo , menstrual cycle , gynecology , breast pain , menstruation , breast cancer , hormone , alternative medicine , cancer , pathology
Thirty‐four women with normal menstrual cycles but suffering from severe premenstrual mastalgia were randomly treated with either tamoxifen (10 mg daily) (18 women) or placebo (16 women) from cycle day 5 to 24 for six consecutive cycles. At the end of the treatment, 89% of the tamoxifen‐treated patients were free from the symptoms and the remainder experienced partial alleviation. In contrast, six patients treated with placebo showed only partial alleviation (38%)(p < 0.001). Twelve months after the end of tamoxifen treatment, 53% of the medicated women were still free of symptoms as compared with none of the placebo‐treated patients. These results suggest that tamoxifen is highly effective for the management of severe premenstrual mastalgia and should be useful for the treatment of this disorder.