Effects of long-term treatment with tamoxifen on endometrial gene expression in women.

The aim was to examine changes in gene expression of the endometrium exposed to long-term tamoxifen treatment in comparison to age matched controls. To achieve this, endometrial tissues were obtained from women receiving tamoxifen treatment who were undergoing a hysterectomy. Using cDNA microarrays, gene expression changes in the postmenopausal endometrium of these women was compared with that in endometrium of age matched women not receiving tamoxifen. Keywords: Gene expression changes in the postmenopausal endometrium of women following tamoxifen treatment Endometrial tissue from post-menopausal women was obtained following ethical approval from the Leicester NHS Trust. None of the women had received any hormonal treatment for two months prior to the procurement of the specimens. Tissues were taken from untreated women (n=6) or those treated for 4 to 5 years with tamoxifen (20mg/day) (n=4), aged 58-82 (65 ± 9.1, mean ± SD). Total RNA was extracted. Controls were pooled. RNA labelling, hybridisation and analysis of fluorescence was carried out as described by Turton et al (2001). Cy3/Cy5 Dye swap labelling was carried out on samples from each patient. Reference: Turton NJ et. al. (Oncogene (2001) 20, 1300-1306