Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Side effects of hormone therapy for breast cancer
By Mayo Clinic staffHere's a look at the known side effects of tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors:
Tamoxifen
- Mimics the signs and symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes, irregular periods and vaginal discharge
- Causes a slight but definite increase in your risk of cancers of the uterus (endometrial cancer or uterine sarcoma) and your risk of cataracts
- Places premenopausal women at higher risk of developing osteoporosis
- Slightly increases risk of blood clots and stroke
Aromatase inhibitors
- Can cause hot flashes, but not to the degree that tamoxifen does
- Slightly increase your risk of joint pain
- Slightly increase your risk of muscle aches
- May slightly increase your risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures
