I see my oncologist on Wednesday as followup. I have been taking tamoxifen for three months now. So far I have been doing extremely well on it. I'm no longer experiencing hot flashes or fatigue. I'm going to talk to my doctor about the tamoxifen 2D6 test.
The tamoxifen 2D6 test, is a drug metabolism test. This test tells whether the breast cancer, drug tamoxifen is likely to be an effective treatment for someone. This test could have already been done just never discussed with me. The 2D6 gene is responsible for metabolizing or activating tamoxifen into its most active form, endoxifen. Up to 7-10 percent of women having special variants of the CYP2D6 gene that prevent them from fully metabolizing tamoxifen. As a result, they may not receive full medical benefit from taking tamoxifen. Studies have shown that these "Poor Metabolizers" have an increased risk for breast cancer recurrence.
I'm learning as I travel down the cancer highway - if I don't ask I don't find out. Luckily, being on the YSC boards I'm learning from the women who have been there and done that.
No comments:
Post a Comment