Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2009 Nov 1;27(31):5144-52.
doi: 10.1200/JCO.2008.21.0716. Epub 2009 Sep 21.

Effects of tamoxifen and raloxifene on memory and other cognitive abilities: cognition in the study of tamoxifen and raloxifene

Claudine Legault  1 , Pauline M Maki, Susan M Resnick, Laura Coker, Patricia Hogan, Therese B Bevers, Sally A Shumaker
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of tamoxifen and raloxifene on memory and other cognitive abilities: cognition in the study of tamoxifen and raloxifene

Claudine Legault et al. J Clin Oncol. .

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the effects of two selective estrogen receptor modulators, tamoxifen and raloxifene, on global and domain-specific cognitive function.

Patients and methods: The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project's Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) study was a randomized clinical trial of tamoxifen 20 mg/d or raloxifene 60 mg/d in healthy postmenopausal women at increased risk of breast cancer. The 1,498 women who were randomly assigned in STAR were age 65 years and older, were not diagnosed with dementia, and were enrolled onto the Cognition in the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (Co-STAR) trial, beginning 18 months after STAR enrollment started. A cognitive test battery modeled after the one used in the Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging (WHISCA) was administered. Technicians were centrally trained to administer the battery and recertified every 6 months. Analyses were conducted on all participants and on 273 women who completed the first cognitive battery before they started taking their medications.

Results: Overall, there were no significant differences in adjusted mean cognitive scores between the two treatment groups across visits. There were significant time effects across the three visits for some of the cognitive measures. Similar results were obtained for the subset of women with true baseline measures.

Conclusion: Tamoxifen and raloxifene are associated with similar patterns of cognitive function in postmenopausal women at increased risk of breast cancer. Future comparisons between these findings and patterns of cognitive function in hormone therapy and placebo groups in WHISCA should provide additional insights into the effects of tamoxifen and raloxifene on cognitive function in older women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and author contributions are found at the end of this article.

Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Cognition in the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) study flow.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Vogel VG, Constantino JP, Wickerham DL, et al. Effects of tamoxifen vs raloxifene on the risk of developing invasive breast cancer and other disease outcomes. JAMA. 2006;295:2727–2741. - PubMed
    1. Buckwalter JG, Geiger AM, Parsons TD, et al. Cognitive effects of short-term use of raloxifene: A randomized clinical trial. Int J Neurosci. 2007;117:1579–1590. - PubMed
    1. Haskell SG, Richardson ED. The effect of raloxifene on cognitive function in postmenopausal women: A randomized clinical trial. Conn Med. 2004;68:355–358. - PubMed
    1. Nickelsen T, Lufkin EG, Riggs BL, et al. Raloxifene hydrochloride, a selective estrogen receptor modulator: Safety assessment of effects on cognitive function and mood in postmenopausal women. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1999;24:115–128. - PubMed
    1. Natale V, Albertazzza P, Missiroli N, et al. Effects of raloxifene on mood, sleep, libido and cognitive function in postmenopausal healthy women: A pilot study. Maturitas. 2004;48:59–63. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances