Screening of Oral Tamoxifen Ocular Toxicity in Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the leading cancer types among females worldwide. Prevalence of breast cancer is reported to be the second most common among women. Several treatment lines were prescribed in treatment of breast cancer besides surgical, radiological interventions. Tamoxifen is one of the medical treatments used in postsurgical prophylaxis of breast cancer. Various visual problems were reported with tamoxifen therapy. These include posterior subcapsular cataracts, color vision changes, optic neuritis, and intra-retinal crystals. In the current study we aimed at screening of ocular toxicity of tamoxifen used for treatment of breast cancer patients having no ophthalmic complains before starting the treatment. Also we assessed the structural changes within the retina using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and correlated these structural changes with the function affection (visual acuity assessment, color vision testing and electrophysiological studies). We included 50 female patients with breast cancer treated with Tamoxifen therapy for at least 2 years then divided into two groups regarding duration of tamoxifen intake from (2-4) years group and from (5-8) years group.