Tamoxifen use led to reduction in fractures

Tamoxifen use was associated with a substantial reduction in osteoporotic fractures for women aged 50 years or older in a recently published study.

Researchers from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada conducted a population-based study to determine the relationship between tamoxifen and osteoporotic fracture in routine clinical practice.

They examined population-based, administrative data for Manitoba. Women with vertebral, wrist or hip osteoporotic fractures (n=11,096) from 1996 to 2004 were each compared with three controls without fracture, matched for age, ethnicity and comorbidity (n=33,209).

Lower fracture rates were associated with current tamoxifen use (OR=0.68; 95% CI, 0.55-0.84). Current use was associated with a significantly reduced overall fracture risk (OR=0.68; 95% CI, 0.55-0.88) and hip fracture risk (OR=0.47; 95% CI, 0.28-0.77) after adjustment for variables.

Recent and remote past tamoxifen use were not associated with reduced fracture risk, and breast cancer was not independently associated with osteoporotic fractures (OR=0.95; 95% CI, 0.81-1.12), according to the researchers.

“The association of tamoxifen use with a reduced risk for osteoporotic fracture appears to be limited to the time a woman is actually taking the drug and does not persist after the drug has been discontinued,” they wrote.

J Clin Oncol. 2008;doi:10.1200/JCO.2007.15.7123.