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Tamoxifen and Singing

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Razouski
Razouski

after going to the breast clinic to have routine procedure to drain a couple of cysts, I was shocked to find I had a tumour in the left breast. A subsequent MRI then identified many other areas of cancer in left breast and a benign tumour in the right. Initially I was told the other areas were not cancer and it was only on the day I arrived at hospital for a lumpectomy that I was then informed I would be having a mastectomy.

that was a few weeks ago, and I've now been told the only follow up treatment I need is Tamixifen. I'm a little concerned as included in the list of possible side effects is one concerning the voice - particularly for singers. I do a lot of semi professional singing and also teach singing at school and run the choir. Singing is one of the things that keeps me sane (my therapy you could say).

I'm finding it hard to find and fast information and wondered if anyone had any knowledge or experience of the singing voice and Tamoxifen.

(It may sound silly, but last year I lost my hearing suddenly due to a virus - profoundly deaf in one ear and partial in other- and I had to work really hard to be able to sing in tune when I can't properly hear what's going on. I am so anxious not to jeopardise this)

Thanks for any info/ advice.

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • caroline11294
    caroline11294 Razouski

    Posted

    Firstly, really sorry to hear what you are going through and wishing you very well.

    I found the the following letter in the research. Obviously he is writing doctor to doctor so the tone is upsetting (the science may think possible effects on singing are "trivial" but you would disagree!).

    They did huge trials on Tamoxifen and it seems effects on singing were not flagged up as a side effect. I think it's likely if it were a big effect on a lot of people they would have noticed. That said, this is so central to who you are, I'd discuss with your doctors what they think and ask if there are other treatments which are as good as Tamoxifen but carry no risk of affecting your voice.

    Very best of luck!

    caroline

    here's the letter:

     Tamoxifen and the Singing Voice

    Andrew Herxheimer

    Citation: Herxheimer A (2005) Tamoxifen and the Singing Voice. PLoS Med 2(9): e310. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020310

    Published: September 27, 2005

    Copyright: © 2005 Andrew Herxheimer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

    Competing interests: The author has declared that no competing interests exist.

    My remark, in my recent Essay in PLoS Medicine [1], that deepening of the voice occurs with long-term use of tamoxifen for breast cancer needs qualification.

    Several colleagues have rightly pointed out that the evidence for the effect is less clear than I implied: it comes from women who have experienced it [2], but there have been no controlled studies. A change in voice was looked for and not found among effects spontaneously reported in large trials of tamoxifen, but this was not specifically asked about and might well have been missed. It is also recognised that the voice sometimes becomes deeper during or after menopause, in the absence of tamoxifen.

    To convey the uncertainty of the facts, I wish to amend my statement as follows: “The irreversible deepening of the voice that has been reported to occur with long-term use of tamoxifen for breast cancer is an example of a side effect that prescribers, manufacturers, and drug regulators seem to have considered trivial and have not investigated.”

    • Razouski
      Razouski caroline11294

      Posted

      Thanks Caroline. I had read this, I think. It's a little inconclusive. I wonder if there are any singers with first hand experience of Tamoxifen in the forums...

       

    • NormaJean1960
      NormaJean1960 Razouski

      Posted

      Interesting I never heard of it affecting vocals. I do suggest getting an eye exam before starting any dose of Tamoxifen. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. Started 10mg of Tamoxifen daily in May 2007. Shortly after I found my eyes were quite blurry and I bought a few pairs of reading glasses. During my routine yearly physical I spoke to the doctor about it. At the time my last eye exam was 5 years prior. Two weeks later I had an eye exam. My vision was measured as left 125 and right was 75 and the opthalmologist told me I had Tamoxifen Retinopathy of the left eye and only a very very small amount of people have been diagnosed with low dose retinopathy. She consulted with my oncologist, he agreed and I discontinued with the medicine.

      Norma Jean

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