A drug prescribed to more than half of all patients suffering from breast cancer can in some cases actually stimulate tumor growth and increase the likelihood of a relapse, Swedish researchers said. The drug, tamoxifen, has since the 1970s been widely prescribed to fight breast cancer since it has shown to counteract the cancer-promoting effects of estrogen in the breast by binding itself to the estrogen receptor in the cancerous cell, thus impeding tumor growth.According to new research conducted at the Malmo University Hospital, UMAS, in southern Sweden however, the drug can have the opposite effect on certain types of tumors.
