ADENOMYOSIS IN POSTMENOPAUSAL BREAST-CANCER PATIENTS TREATED WITH TAMOXIFEN - A NEW ENTITY

Between September 1, 1989 and October 31, 1994, 173 postmenopausal bre ast cancer women on tamoxifen treatment were followed up in the author s' institutions. During this period, 14 (8.1%) underwent total abdomin al hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for various indica tions, Eight (57.1%) were found to have adenomyosis, of whom one had a large fundal adenomyotic lump and the other seven patients had two to four small microscopic foci of adenomyosis. In this study, the rate o f adenomyosis described among those postmenopausal breast cancer patie nts treated with tamoxifen is nearly three to four times higher than t he rate reported in the literature for pre- and postmenopausal women. There is no previous reported increased incidence of adenomyosis in po stmenopausal breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen. Thus, it i s suggested that the prolonged and unopposed estrogen-like stimulation by tamoxifen may play a causal role rather than be a casual factor in the development of this pathologic entity. (C) Academi Press, Inc.