Significant reduction of free S protein in women receiving chemoendocrine adjuvant therapy for breast cancer based on intravenous CMF administration and oral tamoxifen

Cancer related thrombophilia is often present in oncological patients. Lot of reports, in fact, described an increased incidence of thromboembolic events not only in the first stage of the disease, but also during cancer related treatment. Breast cancer patients, in fact, receive also an endocrine treatment based on an antiestrogenic drug tamoxifen and tamoxifen has been often investigated because of a potential additional action toward thrombophilia, but this action has been not confirmed by other reports. In this study the authors showed not only the hypercoagulable state present in women receiving a chemoendocrine therapy based on cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, fluorouracil and tamoxifen, but also a specific reduction in free S protein, a physiological anticoagulant protein. This could explain the increased incidence of thromboembolic complications in women receiving this treatment and could suggest a thromboprophylaxis of these patients.