The incidence of breast cancer in western societies has been rising ever since the Second World War. Besides the exposure to a multitude of new chemical compounds, electromagnetic field exposure has been linked to breast cancer through a radiation-mediated anti-melatonin pathway. We investigated, whether low-frequency electromagnetic field exposure interferes with the anti-estrogenic activity of tamoxifen. Two different clones of the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 were exposed to highly homogeneous 50 Hz electromagnetic fields and IC50 values were calculated from dose-response curves of tamoxifen at various field intensities. An intensity-dependent shift of tamoxifen dose-response curves to higher concentrations with a maximal response at 1.2 mu T was observed. Hypothetically, electromagnetic field exposure could contribute to tamoxifen resistance observed in breast cancer after long-term treatment. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.