Breast cancer therapy revealed to increase womb cancer risk

9 July 2018

Tamoxifen, the billion-dollar breast cancer generic, has been revealed to cause higher rates of womb cancer in patients, according to a study published in the British Journal of Surgery (BJS).

The drug, first discovered accidentally by chemist Dora Richardson in 1962, was originally inteded to serve as a morning-after contraceptive pill. Though ineffective in this regard, its anti-carcinogenic properties led to it becoming a success story for AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) before its patents expired in 2002.

Since 2004, it has been the world's leading hormonal breast cancer treatment, and it has long been on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines. All of which makes the BJS findings discomforting reading.

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