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Is Tamoxifen Effective Against Breast Cancer In A Male?

Posted on Wed, 30 Sep 2015

Question: My brother is diagnosed breast cancer stage 4. Metastasis to bone. Soft tissue are spared. He went through 6 cycles of chemo and bone radiation. Most recent radiological report showing no infiltration in soft tissue, slight decrease in tumor size in the left breast. His tumor is ER+, PR+, BRACA+, and I believe it is HER+. Dr. did try tamoxifen before chemo with not much result. Now Dr. has started Xeloda. Please let us know your opinion and suggestion. Thanks

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (9 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
yes this is a good option

Detailed Answer:
Hi
I am sorry to know about your brother.

Overall I feel he is on the right track. It would help to know what chemo he has received so far. Xeloda by itself is a good choice.

He also needs monthly zoledronate injection to prevent bone related complications.

If tamoxifen has not yielded good results, even then we can try some other hormonal agent like goserelin injections plus anastrozole tablets. In my experience works well in male breast cancer which is ER+ve.

Hope this helps. I will be available for followup.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Indranil Ghosh (36 hours later)

Thanks for the response, Do you think removing the mother tumor and lymph nodes would be a good idea or there is no use of removing it. Also, I believe the tumor is HER2 positive. Do you think Herceptin (Trastuzumab) could be a good option? Thanks

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
no use of removing the primary tumor.

Detailed Answer:
If it is Her2 -3+, then we can definitely consider herceptin plus either hormonal or chemotherapy. Will enhance the response and extend survival.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Neel Kudchadkar