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Current status of endocrine therapy for breast cancer

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Abstract

Endocrine therapy is usually indicated prior to chemotherapy as the first line therapy for metastatic breast cancer patients because of its milder toxicity. Patients who respond to a first-line endocrine therapy have a high chance of responding to a second-line endocrine therapy, and thus the responders to a firstline endocrine therapy would better be treated with second or third-line endocrine therapy. In the adjuvant setting, tamoxifen (antiestrogen) has been proven to improve the prognosis of both pre- and post-menopausal estrogen receptor positive breast cancer patients, and goserelin (LH-RH agonist) has been proven to improve prognosis in premenopausal women comparable to chemotherapy (CMF). Very recently, preliminary results have indicated that anastrozole (aromatase inhibitor) is superior to tamoxifen as adjuvant treatment for estrogen receptor positive postmenopausal breast cancer patients. In addition, the recent success of tamoxifen in a chemoprevention trial seems to have ushered in a new era wherein prevention of breast cancer is much more emphasized than treatment of established breast cancer.

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Abbreviations

LH-RH:

Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone

ER:

Estrogen receptor

E2:

Estradiol

El:

Estrone

LH:

Luteinizing hormone

FSH:

Follicule-stimulating hormone

MA:

Megestrol acetate

MPA:

Medroxyprogesterone acetate

AR:

Androgen receptor

GR:

Glucocorticoid receptor

ACTH:

Adrenocorticotrophic hormone

TTP:

Time to progression

PgR:

Progesterone receptor

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical Oncology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan

    Yasuo Miyoshi, Tetsuya Taguchi, Yasuhiro Tamaki & Shinzaburo Noguchi

Authors
  1. Yasuo Miyoshi
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  2. Tetsuya Taguchi
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  3. Yasuhiro Tamaki
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  4. Shinzaburo Noguchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shinzaburo Noguchi.

Additional information

Reprint requests to Shinzaburo Noguchi, Department of Surgical Oncology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E10, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.

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Miyoshi, Y., Taguchi, T., Tamaki, Y. et al. Current status of endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Breast Cancer 10, 105–111 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02967634

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