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What is your approach to adjuvant hormone therapy for HR+ breast cancer in post-menopausal women with pre-existing osteoporosis?

Would you consider omitting treatment if small tumor and early stage? Or would you use tamoxifen?
2 Answers
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Medical Oncology · Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Answered on

Pre-existing osteoporosis, I assume secondary causes of osteoporosis and vitamin D3 deficiency have been ruled out, and she is on antiresorptive medications. In this case, I would use tamoxifen. In postmenopausal osteoporosis, tamoxifen mitigates bone loss but does prevent fractures. Suppose there a...

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Mednet Member
Mednet MemberInvited Expert
Medical Oncology · Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Answered on

It depends upon the patient's risk of breast cancer recurrence. Fortunately, we have effective treatment options for osteoporosis (oral and IV bisphosphonates and denosumab), but if she develops metastatic breast cancer she has a terminal (though treatable) illness. So, in a patient with osteoporosi...

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