HISTOPATHOLOGIC FINDINGS IN THICKENED ENDOMETRIA, AS MEASURED BY ULTRASOUND IN ASYMPTOMATIC, POSTMENOPAUSAL BREAST-CANCER PATIENTS ON VARIOUS ADJUVANT TREATMENT INCLUDING TAMOXIFEN

Pallents with breast cancer exhibit an increased risk of developing ca ncer from other organs, a risk that might ina ease due to tamoxifen tr eatment. This drug has been found to cause activation of oestrogen rec eptors, leading to oestrogenic effects on the postmenopausal endometri um. We report follow-up of 94 patients with breast cancer without init ial symptoms aged more than 50 years at the time of operation. They we re followed-up with vaginal ultrasound at regular intervals and endome trial sampling was performed according to clinical reasons. The patien ts were divided according to treatment after surgery: tamoxifen, tamox ifen in combination with other regimes and without tamoxifen treatment . A large proportion were investigated prior to treatment. We identifi ed endometrial carcinoma, metastasis of breast carcinoma and histopath ological changes in 17/67 (25%) of the patients treated with tamoxifen compared to 1/32 in those not treated with tamoxifen.