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
. 2014 Dec;11(4):215-218.
doi: 10.4274/tjod.82621. Epub 2014 Dec 15.

Assessment of thickened endometrium in tamoxifen therapy

Engin Korkmazer  1 , Neşe Solak  2 , Vehbi Yavuz Tokgöz  3
Affiliations

Assessment of thickened endometrium in tamoxifen therapy

Engin Korkmazer et al. Turk J Obstet Gynecol. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: Aim of this study was to evaluate role of hysteroscopy in thickened endometrium (>5 mm) associated with tamoxifen therapy.

Materials and methods: We performed dilatation and curettage (D&C) and hysteroscopic biopsy to patients for evaluation of thickened endometrium in tamoxifen therapy. One hundred and nine asymptomatic patients with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer treated with tamoxifen 20 mg daily. We performed hysteroscopic biopsy or D&C to patients who have thickened endometrium at transvaginal sonography. We correlate pathology report results of D&C and hysteroscopic biopsy.

Results: Fifty-nine of 103 patients have thickened endometrium.Thirty-five of 59 patients diagnosed with D&C (19 inactive endometrium, 15 endometrial polyp, 1 endometrial hyperplasia). D&C couldn't get material 24 of these patients. Hysteroscopic biopsy diagnosed endometrial polyp 11 (45.8%) of these patients.

Conclusion: We can state that D&C does not seem accurate enough for detection of intrauterin pathologies in thickened endometrium associated with tamoxifen therapy. We therefore believe it is reasonable to perform hysteroscopic biopsy in asymptomatic tamoxifen treated patients who have thickened endometrium.

Keywords: Tamoxifen; dilatation and curettage; hysteroscopy; polyp.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors reported no conflict of interest related to this article.

References

    1. Paschopoulos M, Kontostolis E, Lolis ED, Koliopoulos G, Alamanos Y, Paraskevaidis E. The use of transvaginal sonography and vaginoscopic hysteroscopy in women on tamoxifen. JSLS. 2001;5:211–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kedar R, Bourne T, Powles T, Collins WP, Ashley SE, Cosgrove DO, et al. Effects of tamoxifen on uterus and ovaries of postmenopausal women in a randomized breast cancer prevention trial. Lancet. 1994;343:1318–21. - PubMed
    1. Leeuwen FE, Benraadt J, Coebergh JW, Kiemeney LA, Gimbrere CH, Otter R, et al. Risk of endometrial cancer after tamoxifen treatment of breast cancer. Lancet. 1994;343:448–52. - PubMed
    1. Jones ME, Leeuwen FE, van, Hoogendoorn WE, Mourits MJ, Hollema H, Boven H, van, et al. Endometrial cancer survival after breast cancer in relation to tamoxifen treatment: pooled results from three countries. Breast Cancer Res. 2012;14:91. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fung MF, Reid A, Faught W, Le T, Chenier C, Verma S, et al. Prospective longitudinal study of ultrasound screening for endometrial abnormalities in women with breast cancer receiving tamoxifen. Gynecol Oncol. 2003;91:154–9. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources