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Progestational Agents in the Treatment of Breast Cancer

  • Chapter
Endocrine Therapies in Breast and Prostate Cancer

Part of the book series: Cancer Treatment and Research ((CTAR,volume 39))

Abstract

Progesterone was first reported to produce regression of tumor in patients with advanced breast cancer in 1951 [1,2]. Its use was limited by its relatively low response rate compared to those of testosterone and estrogenic compounds then in use and by frequent severe local irritation and sterile abscess formation at the site of intramuscular injection. Numerous synthetic progestins were evaluated in the next 15 years. The first oral progestin found to be active was bromo-oxy-progesterone (BOP) [3]. By 1967, reviews by Stoll [4] and by Briggs [5] indicated several oral and parenteral progestins that were thought to be useful in breast cancer treatment, but neither the optimal agents, doses, routes of administration, nor schedule had emerged. Their role in the management of advanced cancer remained unclear for these reasons and because they had no clear advantage over androgens or estrogens, which were the established hormonal agents used in patients with breast cancer at that time. Studies performed in the 1970s and early 1980s have demonstrated the effectiveness of progestins as secondary hormonal therapy for women with breast cancer, with response rates comparable to those of estrogens or antiestrogens when used as second-line therapy. Recent direct comparisons of progestins to tamoxifen as initial hormonal therapy for patients with advanced breast cancer suggest that they are comparable in effectiveness and side effects. It seems likely that progestins will be used more widely in the future for palliative therapy of breast cancer.

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Authors
  1. John T. Carpenter Jr.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    C. Kent Osborne

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© 1988 Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston

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Carpenter, J.T. (1988). Progestational Agents in the Treatment of Breast Cancer. In: Osborne, C.K. (eds) Endocrine Therapies in Breast and Prostate Cancer. Cancer Treatment and Research, vol 39. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1731-9_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1731-9_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8974-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1731-9

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