Influence of droloxifene on metastatic breast cancer as first-line endocrine treatment

The effect of droloxifene (3-hydroxytamoxifen) given as first-line endocrine treatment was evaluated in 39 postmenopausal women with advanced receptor-positive or receptor-unknown breast cancer. The patients had not received any previous anticancer therapy apart from adjuvant treatment. The overall response rate (CR + PR) was 51% (8% CR, 43% PR), 95% confidence interval +/- 15.7%. Median time to progression (all patients) was 8 months, the median time to response 2 months, while the median duration of response was 10 months. The drug was well tolerated with no major side effects recorded; 16% of the patients experienced hot flushes. The response to droloxifene recorded in the present study is in accordance with the response rates to tamoxifen as first-line treatment in identical groups of patients.