Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Treated with Tamoxifen: Sociodemographic and Clinical Profile

Abstract

Introduction: In Brazil, besides the high rate among women, breast neoplasia is the leading cause of cancer death in this population. In hormonal treatment of breast cancer, tamoxifen has been widely prescribed for all stages of the disease. Objective: This research aims at identifying the sociodemographic and clinical profile of women diagnosed with breast cancer undergoing hormone therapy with tamoxifen. Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative study conducted at Hospital Santa Rita de Cássia, Vitória, Espírito Santo. The study population comprised 270 women diagnosed with breast cancer under hormone therapy treatment with tamoxifen. Results: It was observed that most women were in the 41- to 60-year-old age group, married or living as so, have incomplete primary education, claim to be Catholic and belong to the lower class. These women have been making use of tamoxifen for less than one year and presented side effects, of which the most frequent were hot flashes. They were submitted to the three types of treatment (conservative-type surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) and diagnosed at stage I and II. Conclusion: It was found that the majority of women using tamoxifen had side effects while using the drug.