TAMOXIFEN AND OOPHORECTOMY IN THE TREATMENT OF RECURRENT BREAST-CANCER - A SOUTHWEST ONCOLOGY GROUP-STUDY

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 42  (11) , 4788-4791
Abstract
The relatively short survival following chemotherapy in patients with metastatic carcinoma of the breast and the introduction of antiestrogens has led to renewed interest in the hormonal therapy of breast cancer. Prichared et al. (1980) have recently stated that response to the antiestrogen tamoxifen (TAM) strongly predicts a subsequent response to oophorectomy in premenopausal patients. The Southwest Oncology Group administered TAM to pre- and postmenopausal women with 1st recurrence of breast cancer. Following response and subsequent relapse, or after no response, patients underwent an oophorectomy while continuing of TAM. None of 14 premenopausal patients who responded to TAM had a response to oophorectomy plus TAM; 5 of 22 had a remission with oophorectomy plus TAM after initially failing with TAM alone. The reverse was seen in postmenopausal women; 4 of 18 responders to TAM subsequently responded to oophorectomy plus TAM, but 0 of 18 TAM failures responded to oophorectomy plus TAM. Apparently, in the premenopausal women, the TAM dose may be insufficient to block all estrogen action, and oophorectomy, by removing the major source of estrogen, can result in a more effective antiestrogen action of TAM, leading to a response. No explanation is readily available for the results in postmenopausal patients.