One article written by Montastruc et al. reported that no association could be detected between tamoxifen therapy and Parkinsonism [1]. On the contrary, Lin et al. reported that tamoxifen therapy was associated with a 3.3-fold increased risk of Parkinson’s disease among older women with breast cancer in Taiwan [2]. A cohort study by Latourelle et al. reported that tamoxifen therapy was associated with a 5-fold increased rate of Parkinson’s disease after 4 years of tamoxifen therapy [3]. The authors explained the neuroprotective effect of estrogen might be disrupted by tamoxifen therapy [3]. Latourelle et al.’s finding was partially compatible with Lin et al.’s study showing a duration-dependent effect of tamoxifen therapy on the risk of Parkinson’s disease [2]. That is, the longer the tamoxifen use, the higher the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Although conflicting results exist on the neuroprotective or neurotoxic effects associated with tamoxifen therapy, Latourelle et al. emphasized that the protective effect of tamoxifen therapy against breast cancer recurrence is more important than the risk of Parkinson’s disease [3].
References
Montastruc F, Khosrow-Khavar F, de Germay S, Renoux C, Rousseau V, Durrieu G, Montastruc M, Rascol O, Sommet A, Lapeyre-Mestre M, Benevent J, Montastruc JL (2018) Tamoxifen and the risk of Parkinsonism: a case/non-case study. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 74 (9): 1181–1184
Lin HF, Liao KF, Chang CM, Lin CL, Lai SW (2018) Tamoxifen usage correlates with increased risk of Parkinson’s disease in older women with breast cancer: a case-control study in Taiwan. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 74(1):99–107
Latourelle JC, Dybdahl M, Destefano AL, Myers RH, Lash TL (2010) Risk of Parkinson’s disease after tamoxifen treatment. BMC Neurol 10(23):1471–2377
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Shih-Wei Lai contributed to the conception of the article and initiated the draft of the article.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares that there are no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lai, SW. Tamoxifen administration and risk of Parkinson’s disease. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 75, 133 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-018-2553-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-018-2553-y